


Until the Sky Turns Red

by CabinOnAShore



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Absolute idiots the lot of them, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Competition, Demons, Fluff and Angst, Lot of fluff, M/M, Magic, Magic School, Most characters come in later, Poor Dipper, School Dances, Slow Burn, Torture, slow burn?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:00:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 42,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23992690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CabinOnAShore/pseuds/CabinOnAShore
Summary: Dipper and Mabel move and begin attending a private school that seems a little more magical than most.They meet some strange people and have come just in time for the Winter Games. Although the Games seem like a friendly competition, there might be a more sinister purpose underlying its facade.
Relationships: Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines, Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines
Comments: 16
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Dipper**

They walked up to the large wooden gates with iron winding over it in intricate designs that marked the entrance of the school. The bus had dropped them off almost half a mile back, the driver saying there wasn't anything further down.

"What do we do?" Dipper looked around for a person or an intercom but saw nothing and the gates remained shut.

"We should just climb it," Mabel suggested and stalked towards the gate while her green suitcase was left abandoned on the ground.

"W-what? No! We aren't jumping the fence, you idiot!"

Dipper slapped at Mabel's arm and she stopped moving towards possible death. The gates creaked and slowly began to open up to a long winding road through a green field with trees lining the pavement and patches of trees further out.

"See. We just needed to be patient." Dipper tugged on Mabel's sleeve as he started the long walk, picking up his brown case as he moved forward.

After almost twenty minutes of walking, they finally saw the school. Towering spires and intricately designed windows dotting the walls made it seem hundreds of years old. They came up to a large circle paved with gravel that must serve as the main space for cars, although there were none to speak of in sight.

"It looks like Hogwarts," Mabel remarked as she moved her head as if she was looking for kids flying on brooms above them. She wasn't wrong though. The gothic stone castle vibe of it all felt very Harry Potter esque. 

"How the hell did our parents afford this?" Dipper muttered as two people exited from a pair of large wooden doors that probably led to the main office of the school. They spoke to each other in low voices as they approached the car.

The twins met the pair halfway. The one that drew Dipper's attention the most was the taller man. He had blonde hair neatly covering an eyepatch on his left eye with an immaculate yellow and black suit completed with an expensive-looking black top hat. His golden eye seemed to read every detail about the twins.

Dipper was offset about him, but also mesmerized. The other person was a shorter girl with dark green eyes almost like seaglass, black hair, and was dressed in black skinny jeans and a grey t-shirt with a loose black jacket thrown on over it. She stepped forward with a smile and stuck a hand out.

"Hello and welcome to Hogwarts!" 

"That's what I was just thinking! Are you psychic?" The girl chuckled and gave Mabel a conspiratal grin.

"Yeah, I am. This is actually Mystic Falls Academy. We're going to be your guides and introduce you to the school." Mabel nodded and gazed at the building once more as she shook the girl's hand. Dipper shook her hand as well and felt the boy's eyes on him for every second of it. He felt his muscles tighten as if he was prey realizing there was a predator nearby. The girl stepped back to introduce everyone.

"My name is Ariel and this is-" she eyed the boy with distaste and he cut her off as took a step towards Dipper.

"Name's Bill Cipher." Ariel made a face at him behind his back and Bill didn't even look at her, holding out a hand expectantly.

Mabel stepped forward and cast a curious glance at the two.

"I'm Mabel. That's my brother, Dipper," She introduced both of them and took Bill's hand, possibly gripping it too tightly and gave it a firm shake before releasing him.

"Nice to meet you both. Would you like us to carry your belongings and lead you to your rooms?"

Dipper put his suitcase on the bed in the dorm he would be sharing with Bill. Bill had carried the case to the entrance of the school before handing it off to Dipper because he 'needed his hands free to open the doors.' 

Bill led Dipper to their room before disappearing off to report to the headmaster. He barely had any time to look around as Bill almost dragged him through the school, promises of the chance to explore later the only thing keeping Dipper from going off on his own.

He decided to use the time he had to himself to acquaint himself with the place he would call home for the foreseeable future.

The room was beautiful and expensive looking. The grey carpet met the dark mahogany boards of the walls. The ceiling was white with spiraling designs carved into it and a golden chandelier hung from it which illuminated the room in a warm glow. A long desk was positioned along the wall between the headboards of the beds Bill and Dipper would sleep in. 

The far side of their room curved into a large semicircular window with a large black seat filling the space. The window overlooked the courtyard and students could be seen walking around on the grass and brick paths that veined across the courtyard which the school circled around in towering grey bricks.

There were three stained oak doors in the room. One was directly across the room from the window which lead back into the hall and the other two were on that side of the room across from each other. Bill had told Dipper they led to the bathrooms and the reading room. Dipper picked a door at random, the one that led to a room behind the beds, and opened it.

It was the reading room. It looked similar to the bedroom and was similar in size but was a bit more decorated. There were two tables placed near the middle of the room to occupy the space and provide a place to study. The round table was closest to the door while a large rectangular one was further inside. Both were surrounded by overstuffed chairs resembling ones that could be found in Victorian times. The shelves that lined the wall reached the ceiling and had a ladder to help students reach books outside their reach.

"What does the library look like then?" Dipper asked to himself.

"Like nothing you've ever seen before." A familiar voice echoed behind Dipper and he spun to see Bill standing behind him.

"W-what? How? You were at the Headmaster's!" Dipper fumbled for something to say but ceased his ramblings when he saw a glint of amusement in Bill's gold eye.

"Alright calm down. Don't want you to die before you're due. Which is on March -" 

"Okay, stop!" Dipper cut him off from revealing any more details about his death. Bill smirked, revealing too sharp teeth as he led Dipper to the nearest seat.

"So, I guess this is the part where I explain the true nature of this school."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Mabel** _

  
Mabel ran back into the center of the bedroom after she explored the dorm she would share with Ariel. She thought it could easily be the the fanciest place she had ever been allowed to touch. Everything was some shade of white or light grey. The walls were made with some type of white wood while the floor was marble.

"It's awesome!" Mabel rushed to her bed and plopped down. She had just slid her suitcase under the bed since she was too excited to unpack at the moment. Ariel chuckled and leaned against the wall.

"It's good that you like it. Some students hated it their first day," she trailed off and seemed to become lost in thought. It must've not been a good one based off of the dark look that overcame her features.

"When can we eat? I'm starving," Mabel broke her out of her haze. Ariel snapped back into focus before she pushed off of the wall and walked over to the door that led into the hall of other dorms.

"Follow me. They serve some snacks in the common room. While you're eating I can go and get your schedule." Mabel jumped up and trotted over to Ariel.

"Sounds good."

They had walked through the commons when heading to their room, but Ariel didn't let Mabel explore it at the time.

"Are you going give me the tour now?" Mabel questioned Ariel jokingly.

"Just the commons until I grab your schedule. I don't want you to get lost in the school because you went off by yourself." They had reached the bottom of the stairs to the commons and Mabel took the time to finally have a good inspection.

There was a smoldering fireplace to their far left and chairs with tables scattered around the room. A large couch made from some light leather stretched in front of the fireplace. Other people in the room as well, not enough for it to be considered crowded but enough to keep it from seeming desolate. They were all doing something, whether it be reading, talking, eating, or just sleeping. The ceiling stretched far above their heads with the center stretching even further, giving Mabel the impression it was one of the spires.

"The food is over here," Ariel said and led her to the side of the stairwell where a large circular wooden table stood covered with all different kinds of food. There was a range of chips, candies, drinks, and some healthy fruits and vegetables. Mabel grabbed a bag of chips and sat at the closest table. She started eating the chips while watching the other people in the room.

"I'm going to go get your schedule now. I'll be back in a bit." Ariel put her hand on Mabel's shoulder briefly and walked out a large wooden door.

Mabel finished her chips and threw the bag away into a trash can by the food table. She walked over to a boy with long raven black hair that was bent over a large book. His shirt matched the color of his hair and hung loosely over his bony frame.

"What book is that?" Mabel asked.

He closed his book and looked up at her. He wore black-rimmed glasses over one dark grey eye and one blue-green eye.

"History of Monsters," he said. He eyed her cautiously as though she was about to pull a knife on him.

"My name is Mabel. What's yours?" Mabel leaned onto the table and tilted her head. He sighed and curled into himself, leaving the book on the table. Mabel could see something about gnomes on it.

"Alright. Who put you up to this? Was it Bill?" He growled and glared at her with one grey eye. "I bet it was Bill."

Mabel straightened up in shock.

"What? Are you talking about the Bill with the weird yellow clothes? The Bill that reminds me of a triangle for some reason?" He looked confused for a second, but it was replaced with what could be interpreted as curiosity. 

"Yes?"

"I knew there was something weird about him!" She was moments away from jumping and squealing with excitement. "We have to go talk to him," she bolted towards the exit of the common room.

"Wait!" She stopped and he ran up to her.

"Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, my name is Christo but call me Chris."


	3. Chapter 3

Bill released a breath before he began what would be the simplest explanation of everything that is happening or has happened thusfar.

"This is a school of magic and supernatural," Bill muttered something else underneath his breath as Dipper jumped up to pace back and forth between him and the window.

"That doesn't make any sense though. I'm not magical. My parents are normal. My great uncles are a bit eccentric but that's the most abnormal thing about my family," Dipper argued but seemed to not even realize Bill was still standing there.

"I don't know why the school picked you, I just know it did for whatever reason it does what it does." Dipper startled and looked at Bill, now remembering he was still there.

"What do mean the school picked us?" 

"Alright listen Pine Tree-"

"Don't call me Pine Tree."

"Pine Tree, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"You can't just tell me the school has its own conscience or whatever you're hinting at then leave it there! You have to tell me more. How does it pick students? Why'd it pick us? Is it a collective conscience or a single entity?"

Bill grinned with those too sharp teeth of his and offered his hand to Dipper. Dipper paused long enough to note that his hands were covered with sleek, black gloves.

"Mind if I give you the tour now, Pine Tree?" Dipper looked at his hand hesitantly before responding.

"Yeah but only if you tell me more about the school during it."

"I make no promises but I'll be sure to tell you some things." 

Dipper took Bill's hand with a glare and he led him out of the bedroom. Bill walked Dipper down the halls of the school, teaching him where everything was and answering _some_ his questions, much to Dipper's ever growing irritation.

"So are there groups in this school? Are they separated by personalities or something?" Dipper questioned Bill, scribbling in a journal he had pulled out of seemingly nowhere. He was thinking about why he and Mabel were separated. It could possibly be segregated based on gender but their personalities were different enough to make at least some sense. It might have been the only thing that did considering that there seemed to be no rules or regulations to the layout, every room seemed to be added in whatever space was available as they came to mind.

"It's based on magic. The west wing is Dark magic, the east wing is Light, south is Earth, and north is Illusionary."

"Illusionary? Like magicians?" Dipper paused in his writing to glance at Bill before scribbling something down even more furiously than before.

"It's the best way to describe them. They just do tricks. Remember, reality is an illusion. They can control it."

"What about-?" Dipper was about to spew into another Inquisition but Bill cut him off.

"You'll learn in time, kid. Just wait," Bill smirked and continued down the hall.

Dipper opened his mouth to ask another question but a gloved hand kept him from voicing him but he still grunted in protest. 

"Yeesh, kid. Giving out information that may or may not be wanted is my whole schtick but this is getting to be repetitive. Besides, it seems that we have gathered an audience." 

_**Mabel** _

  
Chris and Mabel chatted while she waited for Morgan to return.

"So, what's your power?" Chris asked Mabel.

"Power? You guys have powers here? I knew this was a magic school!" Mabel exclaimed. Chris tilted his head and looked either really confused or constipated. Either way, painfully so.

"Everyone here has a power. People in this wing specialize in Light magic but powers are unique to each individual."

"I don't think I have one." She paused and her face dropped but she perked back up immediately, "wait! What if I try this?" She scrunched her face up in concentration and threw out her arm, almost knocking the book off the table in the process. Her eyes popped open again when her arm connected with Chris. "Did it work?"

"Not unless you were attempting at killing me and my book, no," he muttered as he rubbed his now sore arm. Mabel frowned at his response.

She looked up to see Ariel entering the room. Ariel walked over to the two of them and shared a soft smile.

"Already made some friends, Mabel? Wait, haven't I seen you eating with the Illusionary students?" Ariel tilted her head in a curious manner and Mabel opened her mouth to introduce the two to each other but was cut off by Chris standing up quickly, almost sending his chair toppling to the ground in his rush.

"Hi, yeah, I would love to stay and chat, but I just remembered that I something important to get to. See you later, Mabel." Chris tilted his head in acknowledgment to Ariel before hurrying out of the commons.

 _Weird..._ Mabel thought to herself.

_**Dipper** _

Dipper looked around for a sign that people might be lurking around but didn't see anything.

"I don't see anyone," he began warily. But a silencing motion from Bill made him shut up. He waited until he felt like he was going to snap then Bill sent a wave of blue fire roaring down the hall and Dipper jumped back with a yelp. There was a scream then a thud and when the fire faded, a person was sprawled on the ground in front of them.

"Pairs! How ya doin'?"

The kid looked up from his position on the ground, his expression a mix of shock and fear. Dipper reached forward to help pull him up but he pushed his hand away. That seemed to clear his initial shock and he brought himself up into a sitting position, glaring at Bill all the while.

"My name is Christo," he all but growled.

Bill ignored him, at least Dipper wasn't the only one, and continued on talking, "what're you doin' in the Light wing. Last I checked, you were an Illusionist." 

"I heard there were new students. I was going to tell them the truth about you. Guess I was too late for this one," he looked pointedly at Dipper.

"Well if you're so keen on telling the truth, why don't you tell him the truth about yourself? Or the main abilities that come with being an Illusionist. For your payment I'll give you the chance to not be obliterated on the spot."

"You're insane!" Christo screamed at him and Dipper took a few steps back to try and escape the situation but that just drew attention to him. "Don't trust him! Don't trust anyone!" 

"Alright that's enough," Bill snapped his fingers and Christo's mouth disappeared, a smooth patch of skin where his lips once were. Dipper rounded on Bill as Christo screamed in what could either be agony or fear, most likely both.

"What did you do to him?"

"Hopefully taught him a lesson," Bill watched Christo until his muffled cries tapered out into ragged breaths. He snapped his fingers again and Christo's mouth returned to its rightful position on his face. He sucked in greedy gasps of air and licked his lips as if to ensure they were actually there. 

"Okay, okay. Fine. I'll tell him," he glared at Bill before focusing on Dipper and continued, "we're able to shapeshift, make people see what isn't there, and some stuff like that. Nothing actually real. Nothing permanent. Only gods can do that. Are you happy now?"

"That wasn't so hard was it? Bye!" Christo opened his mouth to object or say something else but a snap of Bill's fingers made him disappear just as his mouth had. Bill seemed to notice Dipper's tension and gave him a wicked sharp grin. "Relax, Pine Tree. He's finally in the wing he belongs to. Here, deer teeth, for you, kid."

Bill grabbed Dipper's hand and dropped something small and hard into it. He looked closer and realized they were actually teeth and dropped them with a scream. The teeth disappeared before they even touched the ground, hopefully returned to the rightful deer mouth.

"He's right, you're insane," Dipper backed away from him again.

"Sure I am, what's your point?" Bill acted as if he hadn't just summoned and banished an entire human being and a full set of deer teeth. Dipper's eyes widened further and Bill finally stopped grinning with those too sharp teeth that Dipper could all too easily see sinking into his neck. The thought made his pants feel a bit tighter and the realization made a blush burn his face.

"You're a demon?" Dipper asked, he already knew the answer but needed to hear it confirmed by Bill.

"Yeah. But just a dream demon. The most powerful demon in existence as well," Bill looked curiously at Dipper before backing up against the wall opposite of him and leaned his head back against it. His eyes shut and Dipper had conflicted feelings over the sight of Bill's exposed neck but also him feeling Dipper wasn't a threat. Dipper thought it over for a second.

"Alright."

Bill's nose cracked and the back of his head slammed into the wall. Bill held his head and nose with his hands and groaned, but then he started to laugh.

"You got a nice punch, Pine Tree." Bill rubbed his nose and looked at Dipper with his gold eye glowing. Dipper took a fearful step back and Bill followed him.

"Why are you laughing? Get the hell away from me!" Bill looked hurt by Dipper's words and frowned as blood dripped onto his lips but then that stupid, insufferable grin came back and he licked the blood up and made a show of dragging those too sharp teeth over his lips. He healed his nose with a pop that made Dipper flinch.

"I'm laughing because I'm insane. But do you really want me to leave you? Especially when you're in a strange, new, dangerous environment? Say, let's make a deal, kid."

"I'm not going to make a deal with you."

"Wait, wait. Just hear me out. Okay?" Dipper mulled it over and continued to do so even as he gave Bill a slight nod to continue.

"If you are able to explore the entire school and make it back to our room by yourself, then I'll leave you alone. But if you get lost or into trouble that requires my assistance, then... you have to stay with me." Bill's eye glowed blue and he put his hand out to Dipper with a blue fire flickering around it.

"Deal?"

Dipper hesitantly placed his hand in Bill's and shook it. "Deal."

Bill let Dipper have his hand back and grinned at him, his sharp teeth gleaming.

"I would wish you good luck but I like you, kid, and it'd be a shame to lose you," Bill laughed and disappeared. 

Dipper set off down the large hall and realized how many doors there were which didn't even include the halls that branched off the main artery. There had to have been over twenty doors lining the walls. Dipper sighed and knocked on the closest door.

After hearing no reply, he slowly opened it and peered inside. It looked like a trophy room. There were trophies for sports, competitions, and something else that Dipper didn't know but could assume was a magic sport. Each trophy was polished so well that he saw hundreds of little Dippers all across the room. He decided to leave the room and go into the one across from it. When he knocked on the door a voice called for him to come in.

An older man stood among a mess of books and desks strewn everywhere. His grey hair was in as much disarray as his room, shooting out in all different directions as if he had been electrocuted.

"What happened?" Dipper questioned, taking in the scene before him. The man wrung his hands and gave Dipper a sheepish smile.

"I suppose, to be frank, I did," he gave a shrug as if to say, _'what can you do?'_

"Do you want me to help you clean up?" Dipper offered.

"No, no. It's an assignment for my classes."

Dipper was about to ask what the man meant, but the door behind him slammed open and a familiar voice greeted them.

"Hello, Pine Tree. Hello, Professor Charles." Dipper growled lightly as Bill placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Ah, Bill, nice of you to join us," Professor Charles clasped his hands together and rocked back on his heels with a wide but gentle smile and after seeing Bill's sharp grin his smile seemed softer than a bed of clouds.

"Sorry Professor, but I'm going to have to cut our meeting short. Dipper and I have urgent matters to attend to. You know how tours are," Bill took Dipper's hand and pulled him back into the hall.

"I should make sure that there's actually something _to_ rescue when you inevitably need me to intervene so you can't go into rooms with black doors or that say 'stay out'. Okay?" Dipper was confused by Bill's urgent voice, but Bill gave him a smirk that aggravated him and sent any questions he had out of his mind.

"Alright," Dipper agreed to the new terms tersely and Bill grinned but it was a bit softer even with the sharpness of his teeth.

"Good," Bill disappeared again and Dipper continued on his end of the deal. Avoiding the black doors cut the amount he would have to search by half.

Dipper discovered the bathrooms, a closet, and a library for Dark magic-related research along with other rooms he didn't know the use for. Dipper approached a large dark red door sweating and panting from exploring all of the west wing. He never realized how many staircases there were in castles. Bill appeared next to him, smiling.

"So far, so good, Pine Tree. Now you just have the east, south, and north wings, plus the center of the school. I'll even cut you a break so you don't have to go outside."

"Shut up, Bill," Dipper growled which made Bill grin wider.

"See ya soon," Bill smirked and disappeared. Dipper pushed the heavy doors open and stared at the massive room in front of him. It was filled with four rows of tables, each stretching across the expansive room and painted similar colors to the other large doors set in the stone wall that created the circular room. The ceiling reached high above him and was painted with an intricate mural that he couldn't make the details of from the distance.

There were three other large doors, all different colors, with a smaller door set in between each large one.

The large door directly across from Dipper was white. The door to his right was green and the door to his left was purple. Dipper assumed that the colors symbolized each type of magic. Dipper approached the small oak door between the dark and illusionary doors. When he opened the door he saw different types of math, English, and history books.

"Yes! I hope we get Trigonometry!"

Dipper felt as if he was floating and headed to the next small door between the Illusionary and Light doors. It looked like a gym with stripes painted on the waxed wooden floor and metal with scorch marks lining the wall.

"What do they do for PE?" Dipper shut the door quickly and went to the one between the Light and Earth doors which opened to the biggest library Dipper had ever seen.

He gasped and looked around the room. There were stairs leading to higher levels alongside isles of books that seemed to stretch on forever. Dipper decided that since this was technically a part of the school, he had to explore it. After all, it _was_ part of the deal.

He climbed the first flight of stairs and looked at all of the books surrounding him. The dark wood gave the books an air of mystery and opportunity.

Dipper wandered the library for what felt like forever. He had lost track of what level he was on and how far he had wandered from the door. He began to run down the stairs and he realized after a few minutes that he couldn't have climbed that many stairs on the way up.

Dipper looked around and noticed that he was in the same spot when he had started to try to leave.

_No, no. I can't lose this deal._ Dipper ran desperately looking for an exit. He forced himself to stop and think over the situation.

"Bill must have something to do with this," he growled at the thought of the demon not making good on his deal.

Dipper took a step back only to notice too late that there was no floor where he placed his foot. He felt himself falling and slamming into various objects during his descent. There was a couple of audible cracks that informed him of multiple broken bones. When he finally came to a stop on the ground he saw a person running towards him before the world went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the infodump this chapter but school is nothing but so fits the theme I suppose?


	4. Chapter 4

**_Bill_ **

Bill knew something was wrong. He was lounging on his bed, certainly not tense out of concern for the new student, waiting for the sounds of Pine Tree's screams when he felt a jolt of cold down his spine. He shot up from the bed instinctively but made himself sit back down and focus.

He entered the mindscape and sought out the mind belonging to Dipper. It was easy to find, full of panic and information. Bill entered it and wandered through the forest of his mind until he found Pine Tree's most recent memory, the library.

He abandoned his human body to avoid the need to heal bothersome injuries and teleported to the library. He didn't find his Pine Tree but what he did find was his hat, which must have fallen off in the attack. 

He scanned the room for traces of magic and found that illusions had been cast and recently. Extremely so. Bill had a bit more than an idea of who had used the magic and how they would pay.

**_Dipper_ **

Dipper's eyes fluttered open and he looked around once his vision cleared. He was tied to a chair in the middle of an empty room. The walls were made of dark stones with flecks of purple in them and the floor consisted of grey slabs of rock.

"Good, you're awake," a voice that wasn't familiar until recently echoed behind him and he tried to turn to see the owner of the voice. A boy walked into Dipper's line of sight with a grin. He had dark black hair, a plain dark purple shirt, jeans, and one grey eye and a green-blue eye. Christo.

He moved in front of Dipper who tracked his every movement as a cornered animal might. He was unhinged, his hair a mess, his eyes wild and unfocused.

"Why am I here? And why am I tied up? What do you want with me?"

"Oh just revenge," he said with a shrug like he had only discussed what he had done over the summer.

"What do I have to do with your revenge?" Dipper asked, shifting slightly so the ropes wrapped around his body didn't press into his skin so much. The ropes were poorly tied, a few more minutes and he would be able to slip out.

"Oh, everything. I doubt Bill will be excited when he finds his pet has gone missing."

Dipper let the confusion he felt show plainly on his face. Hopefully his kidnapper wasn't the kind of guy to get aggravated by others not understanding their poor explanations and more of the guy to go on long expositions.

Unfortunately, Christo seemed to be the former. A growl and a flash of metal was all the warning he got before a knife buried into his forearm. Pain lanced through him and blurred his vision. A faint thought in the back of his mind told him that this wasn't actually real but it all felt _so_ real.

The look on the boy's face grew more maniacal, enjoying seeing Dipper writhe in pain. He twisted and pulled the knife back out, blood spraying to splatter against the walls, the floor, his face. The warm, red fluid flowed out of the wound to trickle down his arm and he had to remind himself it wasn't real. It wasn't real. _It wasn't real._

The door flew open, crashing to the ground and sliding until it collided with the wall. There was something floating in the space the door had occupied only seconds ago. A glowing, one-eyed, triangle with little black sticks for legs and arms. Dipper wasn't sure to laugh or cry. He was already doing one, so why not both. 

He began to chuckle but then the complete audacity of the situation and blood loss began to sink in and soon he was outright cackling. A hand to the face made his laughter cut off abruptly and the metallic taste of blood fill his mouth. That was real.

The triangle's form turned red and the fire surrounding his hands looked like flames made of blood.

"CHRISTO!" Its voice echoed throughout the room and Christo smiled at the triangle with no sincerity. Dipper thought that the triangle sounded like Bill and found the idea entertaining that this was what the "all powerful" demon's form looked like.

"Ah, Bill. I was wondering when you would join the party," the triangle, who was also named Bill, glared at Christo and flung the red fire at him. Christo screamed in pain as the flames swallowed him and his body dissolved to ashes. 

The triangle looked at Dipper and seemed to shrink just the slightest bit. It floated until it hovered next to him and with a snap of its fingers the ropes restraining Dipper fell to the ground. The triangle was definitely Bill. Bill grabbed Dipper's unharmed arm and a moment later they were in their room. 

Dipper noticed a body laying on Bill's bed that looked suspiciously dead and suspiciously like Bill. The triangle followed his gaze before floating towards the body and then _through_ it. A second later, his eyes flew open as he shot up and strode towards Dipper. Dipper felt hysteria flood through him once again and he doubled over in laughter until he cried and his head throbbed in pain. Bill paused, watching him wearily.

"Are you all there, Pine Tree?" He asked, placing his hand on his shoulder in what was probably supposed to be a comforting gesture but came out stiff and awkward.

"No, no, I don't think I am. I have fought demons, monsters, and all horrors of the night but within a hour of arriving at this god-fucking-forsaken place I have made a deal with a demon, been kidnapped, and beaten half to death. So excuse me if my screws are a little loose after all of that. Just let me take a fucking nap since it seems that I can't have something normal happen for one, _fucking_ , day."

"Oh," was all Bill said as Dipper pushed him away to climb into bed, not bothering to change first in his tiredness.

"Goodnight," Dipper muttered before throwing the blankets over his head.

"Night?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter sorry


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to BlueGalaxies for commenting! Short chapter again.

**Bill**

Bill left Dipper to catch up on some much needed sleep while he gathered food that he would most certainly need when he finally woke up. Christo was a powerful Illusionist and recovery from the magnitude of his magic put into the spells would require more energy than Dipper had at the moment. 

They had arrived just after the end of dinner and with the night already blanketing over the last week rays of light, a trip to the kitchen wouldn't be worth the risk. Expecially since the last student who attempted to raid the kitchen was found covered in sucker marks with lungs full of salt water. It was unanimously agreed upon to never enter the kitchens or talk about what had happened to the kid. 

Bill instead slipped into the common room and moved toward the table of snacks. The common room wasn't empty, nor was it full, just as it always seemed to be. He drew to a stop at the table and considered just teleporting everything to the room but instead swept the food into a pile before gathering all of it in his arms. A couple students gave him strange looks but knew better than to continue to stare and went back to whatever they did.

He certainly did not struggle up the stairs and most certainly did not accidentally drop a few items of consumable materials then certainly did not drop even more while he tried to gather them back up. Certainly not.

He eventually entered the room with all of the food in his arms and none on the ground, with a bit of magic to keep any more from falling. He dumped the food on the desk between their beds so that Dipper wouldn't have to struggle too much with getting to it, though he did push it just out of his reach. 

Dipper didn't show any signs of waking up anytime soon so Bill teleported to the Dark magic library. Bill had read all of the books in this library but he still liked to go there. It was comforting. He wasn't sure why, he just knew it was. He summoned his favorite book, not feeling like getting up to find it, and settled into a dim corner to read.

The book was called 'The Parallel Mind'. It was about how minds would be when traveling to parallel universes and if it even could or already does. It was absurdly inaccurate but entertaining nonetheless. Bill was beginning the chapter on dreams and the mindscape when a shadow fell over him.

Apparently, he was so invested in the book that he hadn't picked up on the other's presence in the library. He was startled but made sure it didn't show and slowly closed the book without looking up.

**_Dipper_ **

Dipper jerked awake with the sensation of plummeting through the air. His heart was racing and his breathing ragged. The room was dark save for the moonlight filtering through the window.

He went into the bathroom and quickly showered to rid himself of the blood, an illusion, he found himself repeating like a mantra in his head. It seemed to work since the hole in his arm felt shallower and felt less like a hole in his arm.

Once he was dressed, he went over to his bed and tried to sleep again. It was almost midnight now so he should try to get whatever sleep he could. He was used to not sleeping from insomnia and overworking himself to the point of forgetting time exists, but he felt that here he would need a lot more sleep.

After an hour of failing to fall asleep and Bill not returning Dipper threw back the blankets and went to the door that led to the dormitory hall.

He was growing used to the dark colors of the west wing, he actually liked it, and barely glanced around the commons and the people that seemed to always occupy it as he passed through it.

Dipper made his way into the main hall and had a feeling that he should go to the Dark magic library. He remembered where the library was from the tour, at least it came in handy for something. He wandered around the library for a moment before seeing a familiar form in the corner bent over a book.

"Hey, Pinetree," Bill finally greeted upon Dipper's approach after placing his book on the ground.

"What are you reading?" Dipper didn't even bother to return Bill's greeting as he sat down next to Bill. Bill poked at the book thoughtfully.

"A book," Bill answered with a smirk.

"Alright, I'm leaving," Dipper got ready to stand up but Bill caught his arm and quickly released it when he let out a hiss of pain.

"We made a deal, Pinetree." Bill finally looked up at Dipper and he realized that Bill's eye was blue. Dipper growled and sat back down.

"Tell me the deal again."

"If you were able to explore the entire school and make it back to our room by yourself, then I'd leave you alone. But if you got lost or into trouble that required my assistance, then... you'd have to stay with me," Bill recited. "You got in trouble that required my assistance _and_ you didn't explore the entire school. Ergo, you are required by the terms of the deal to stay with me," Bill smiled at Dipper who groaned and leaned his head against the wall.

"C'mon, I'm not that horrible." Dipper glanced at Bill and raised his eyebrow in suspicion. Bill chuckled and Dipper smiled a little bit.

"You humans need sleep, expecially while recovering from a magical attack," Bill snapped his fingers to return the book to its shelf. He placed his hand on Dipper's shoulder and a moment later they were back in the dorm.

"Do you ever just walk?" Dipper asked as he walked over to his bed and sat down.

"Not really." Bill went into the bathroom and left the door cracked so they could continue conversing.

"Then how do you look like that?" Dipper asked and Bill laughed before responding.

"I'm a _demon_ , Pine Tree. Don't forget it or I might have to burn it into your memory. I don't eat and I can have whatever body I want." Dipper climbed under his blankets and thought silently as he listened to Bill moving around in the bathroom.

"That's not fair," Dipper finally decided and Bill came out of the bathroom with a smile. He had changed into sleepwear consisting of loose black pants with an oversized yellow shirt. Dipper was surprised that Bill even owned something this casual or was capable of doing something without relying on magic.

"Life's not fair, kid," Bill said as got into his own bed and looked at Dipper. "Aren't you going to ask about our deal?"

"What do you mean?" Dipper sat up and tilted his head.

"I know you had an urge to go where I was and I know you weren't able to go to sleep until you found me." 

"That was because of the deal?"

"Well, yeah," Bill's face split into a mischievous grin. "But it could also be because of your burning love for me and the inability to be so far away from me." Dipper groaned and rolled onto his side. Bill laughed and laid down as well.

"Night, Pine Tree. Do you want a nightlight?" Bill held his hand up, ready to snap his fingers.

"Shut up," Dipper growled.

"I'll take that as a yes," Bill snapped his fingers plunging the room into darkness until a light by Dipper's bed illuminated the room in a soft blue glow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a longer chapter. Thanks to everyone for commenting and leaving kudos!

Not even an hour after Dipper went to sleep for the second time that night, he began to whimper softly in his sleep. Bill was alerted by this noise and fully woke up. Even though he's a demon, he operates best when he gets to sleep while in human form. 

Bill didn't think much of Dipper's noises, he could even think they were a little bit endearing if they hadn't woken him. That was until Dipper began to grow more coherent. 

"N-no. You have to...help her...stop..." Dipper's whimpers began to grow louder and he writhed around in the bed like he was fighting off an invisible attacker. Bill leapt out of his bed and to Dipper. He could enter Dipper's mind and see the dream for himself but it seemed like something that Dipper wouldn't be inclined to forgive him for. 

He wasn't really sure what else to do, comforting humans wasn't his area except in manipulation, so he held Dipper to his chest and stroked his hair and back. 

"It's alright, Pine Tree. You're only dreaming. You can wake up," he said. He could feel Dipper's heart practically beating itself out of his ribcage and his whole body was shuddering.

"No. No. _NO!"_ Dipper's eyes flew open and he shoved against Bill, sending them both to opposite sides of the bed and Bill over the edge. Dipper tucked his head between his knees and wrapped his arms around his legs. Bill rose from the ground and watched him sit in the defensive position.

"Sorry," Dipper muttered and Bill put his hand on Dipper's back. 

"It's fine. Takes a bit more than that to kill me, you'll have to try harder next time," he pushed Dipper's shoulder and he unrolled slightly. It seemed his attempt at humor hadn't failed completely.

"Don't go. Please," Dipper added and gripped Bill's wrist. Bill smiled softly at Dipper and put his hand in his own with a small squeeze of reassurance. 

"I won't. I'm going to get a cloth to wipe off your sweat. I'm a demon, but at least I have standards." 

Dipper laughed softly and released Bill. He went into the bathroom and came out a moment later with a washcloth. Bill sat down on the edge of the bed and began to wipe Dipper's forehead. Dipper's face burned and he tried to take the washcloth out of Bill's grip, but he pulled it out of reach. 

"Your hands are shaking so much, I doubt you can even hold the cloth." 

"Well, can't you just snap your fingers and I'll be immediately clean?"

"Oh, it appears that my hands are gone," he held up his arms and where his wrists would normally meet his hands, were only stumps.

" _Bill!_ Jesus Christ, what the fuck?" Dipper scrambled away until he was pressed up against the headboard, his eyes wide. 

"Alright, fine." Bill shook his arms and as he did so, the stumps extended and branched out until his hands were fully formed again.

"You're insane," Dipper muttered and kicked lightly at him but Bill blocked it and put his leg further away.

"In the job description, Pine Tree," he smirked and his eye flashed blue for just a moment.

"Right. Demon. As you oh so love to remind me of," Dipper shifted until he was sitting with his legs crossed on top of his pillow. He yawned and Bill glanced over at the food that Dipper hadn't seemed to touch. 

"You need to eat," Bill reminded him and snapped his fingers so that Dipper was clean and sweatless once again.

"It's the middle of the night," he argued but did feel gnawing hunger begin to set in. He supposed that he didn't eat dinner, or lunch, or even breakfast for that matter. "But I guess I could go for a snack."

Bill tossed a bag of Doritos at him, it was family sized. "Bone apple tea," he said cheerily.

"Bill, I can't eat all of this," he paused, registering what Bill said. "You _do_ know it's bon appetit, right?"

"That's what I said. And you can! You humans can eat anything. Poison, each other, a bag of chips." 

"Can you at least have some, too?" Dipper opened the bag and shook it at him. Bill hesitated before gingerly picking out a dorito, studied it with curiousity, then shoved the whole thing in his mouth. He immediately began to choke.

"Bill!" Dipper yelped and moved to pound him on the back until he began to laugh. Dipper paused, watching Bill clutch his sides and shake with laughter. "Um, Bill?"

Bill managed to stifle his laughter enough to wave Dipper off and compose himself further. "I didn't realize you flesh bags would eat something that causes pain on purpose."

"We don't. Well we do, but this isn't supposed to. You ate it wrong and choked." Dipper demonstrated how to eat one while Bill watched with mild curiosity.

"I didn't catch it that time, could you try it again?" Bill asked and Dipper did but Bill screwed up his face in confusion. "I still don't understand, maybe if you do it with the rest of the bag, I will."

"Oh, fuck you," Dipper meant to sound angry but the words were accompanied by a chuckle. Bill grabbed another chip and ate it, properly this time.

"Do it yourself," he grinned, his sharp teeth flashing in the low lighting. Dipper shoved him and placed another chip in his mouth to hide the fact that his face was burning a furious red. Bill stole a chip from the bag and chewed on one of its corners. 

"How do you feel about sharing the shape of a name brand corn chips?" Dipper asked, brandishing a chip.

"Another way of spreading my visage," Bill commented with a bite to one of the other corners. "Hurry up and eat already or we'll be up until breakfast," Bill complained, finishing off the final corner before placing the remainder of the chip in his mouth.

"It's a giant bag and almost three in the morning so I'm sorry that I'm not devouring the entire thing," Dipper argued back. He ate a dorito before grabbing another one.

"Three more, because three is the perfect number, then get some sleep. I doubt what you bags of useless flesh perceive as an hour is enough sleep for anyone." Dipper nodded and grabbed three doritos so Bill could take the bag and place it back on the desk.

"You're pretty overprotective," Dipper noted before shoving all three chips into his mouth and dusting off his hands. He pulled back the blankets and climbed under, settling in for the night.

"Still want me to stay?" Bill asked and watched Dipper. Dipper nodded and Bill climbed under the blankets with him. 

"Night once again, Bill," Dipper muttered. Bill smiled and closed his eye.

"Night, Pine Tree."

When Bill woke up to the morning light streaming into the room, he realized that he was holding Dipper to his chest, who was curled up against him with his hands bunched up in his shirt. He considered getting up and leaving Dipper for his own bed but the warmth of his body drew him in and kept him mesmerized as if he was more Scitalis than human. He settled for drawing Dipper closer and wrapping his arms around him to enjoy the heat, although temporary.

Dipper didn't wake up for another hour and a half. When Dipper began to stir as consciousness came over him Bill couldn't figure out what he should do. He could feign sleep, fluster Dipper by letting him know he was awake, or leave. Bill decided to do the former rather than either of the latter two. Bill's eye closed barely a second before Dipper's opened.

Dipper blinked to let his eyes get rid of sleep that clouded them and adjust to the soft morning light. Dipper realized there was another person in his bed and just barely kept himself from flinging both of them to the floor.

Memories of the past day came back in a rush accompanied by a groan. His arm was sore, but free of any gashes. He could still taste some blood in his mouth though.

Dipper noticed that Bill's eyes were closed and his breathing was light and even. Dipper decided to use the time he had been provided to actually look at Bill. He'd been too nervous to look at him while he was awake in case Bill caught him staring. His face had a softness to it that Dipper hadn't really seen before. His eyelashes were long and cast a slight shadow. His jaw and cheekbones were angular, probably because he was a triangle.

The eyepatch that covered his left eye had a small design of bricks in it. Dipper lifted a hand to touch it and Bill grinned, his sharp teeth still unsettling to Dipper.

"Awake already, Pine Tree?" Bill's eye opened, flashing gold as he looked at Dipper who flinched away with a yelp. Dipper laughed to hide his nervousness, but it did nothing against the blush spreading over his face. 

"Yeah, unlike someone else," Dipper joked. Bill rolled out of the bed and waltzed into the bathroom. "Where are you going?" Dipper asked and sat up as well. 

" _We're_ going to go to the dining hall to have breakfast," Bill announced from inside the bathroom.

"I thought you didn't eat," Dipper stood up and joined him in the bathroom to complete his morning ritual.

"Oh, I don't need to. I just like to. Don't ask why." 

"Do we have to leave now?" Dipper questioned, hoping to catch a few more minutes of peace. 

"Unless you can convince me to stay," Bill said with a conspiratal wink and grin. Dipper shook his head and brushed his teeth. "Hurry up so you don't miss breakfast again," Bill pat him on the back as he walked out but his words made Dipper almost inhale the toothpaste. He tried to rinse out his mouth through his coughing so he could interrogate Bill on how he knew when he had last ate but his plan was failing miserably.

"Pine Tree! We don't want to be late because of your incompetence and mortality," Bill came in just as Dipper got his breath back and toweled off his face but before he could say anything, Bill grabbed his wrist.

They appeared at the end of their magical alignment's table and Bill pushed Dipper down the aisle. Bill sat them down in the middle of the table and people that were sitting nearby moved further away. 

Not everyone was in the dining hall yet, but there were still plenty of kids. They were mostly teenagers, but there was a couple of younger children scattered amongst the throng of people. 

"Why is everyone sitting away from us?" Dipper looked at the empty space between them and the other people. Bill shrugged. 

"Not sure. Might be because of how I drink." Dipper was about to ask him to clarify when a can of soda appeared in Bill's hand. "I drink like a normal person," Bill said as he opened the can and poured it directly into his eye. Dipper immediately grabbed the can and put it on the table. 

"That's not how normal people drink, Bill! How long have you been human? It's like you barely know anything about it," Bill looked at Dipper with soda running down his face.

"It's not? And I've been human longer than I care for, what you would consider to be thirty year." 

"No, it's not. Now clean yourself up," Bill snapped his fingers to clean himself and change into his usual suit. Dipper considered his answer to the second question, he wasn't sure how old the demon was although his body seemed to be seventeen like Dipper was.

Dipper glanced at Bill and was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of a loud bell echoing throughout the school. The bell sent wandering students to their tables and cast a silence upon the room.

Dipper leaned over to Bill to ask what was happening, but Bill shushed him. The four large doors opened at once and a file of people streamed through them. They formed a circle around the room and raised their hands in unison. The room's walls shifted and morphed so the four doors formed one and directly across from it, a raised platform with a large table laid across it. 

Everyone stood as the large door opened and two people walked through. One was the Professor that Dipper had come across while he was exploring and the other was an older woman who looked to be in her sixties in a midnight blue cloak with electric blue eyes and her greying hair pulled back into a tight bun. The duo walked down the aisle in the middle of the tables and stood on the edge of the platform to address the students. 

"Good morning, students," the woman's voice echoed throughout the chamber as the bell had when it rang. The students took their seats as she began to speak and Dipper followed their lead. 

"That's the Headmistress, Cathy Grenshaw, and the Lead Professor," Bill whispered to Dipper as an explanation. Dipper nodded and the Headmistress continued to speak. 

"The annual Winter Games is now two weeks away so students hoping to participate may now sign up after breakfast in the library. Our sister school, the Academy of Magic & Supernatural in British Columbia, has requested a duel between our schools to hone your fighting skills. We will have a vote on whether or not we will accept it during lunch. Until that time comes, you may discuss if you are up for competing. Our final round of hockey will be tomorrow night next week between our Earth and Illusionary students. 

"The final round of Sylich will be tonight between the Dark and Light magic students. The game will begin at 9 tonight. That is all for today. Now... let's eat!" The Headmistress clapped her hands together and food covering the entire table appeared out of thin air.

The Headmistress took a seat at the table with the professors and they immediately delved into a conversation with each other. Dipper saw his favorite food in front of him and stared at it. It was his usual from Greasy's Diner, a large pile of steaming pancakes drenched in maple syrup. Bill laughed at Dipper's state of shock and took the top pancake off of the stack and bit into it. 

"Huh. I can see why that's your favorite," he remarked casually. Dipper was left speechless and silently ate the pancakes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually did some research for this chapter (I'm proud of myself)  
> Hope you guys can figure out who the Headmistress is.  
> Stay safe as we head into June, guys.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Pride Month, guys!  
> Also sorry for the wait, too

As students finished eating, they blended together until bell rang once again and the doors leading to the wings reappeared for the students to exit through. Some students went into the library and Bill followed them with Dipper trailing after him. A familiar voice rose behind them, calling their names.

"Dipper! Bill!" The two turned to see Mabel working her way through the crowd. Dipper smiled at the sight of his twin.

"Mabel!" The twins embraced while Bill stood to the side. When they broke the hug Dipper looked over his sister, ensuring her first day wasn't as traumatic as his had been. 

"What are you doing here? Are you going to sign up?" He questioned her, she normally only did competitions for the uniforms. Mabel shrugged at his questions and glanced over at the table where students had already put their names. 

"I don't know. Probably not. It sounds boring." 

"Boring?" Bill challenged with his eye narrowed and glinting dangerously. Dipper watched Bill to make sure he wasn't going to replace Mabel's teeth with a deer's, he wouldn't put it past him. He stepped forward, placing his body between the two, to diffuse the situation.

"I'm sure Mabel has her reasoning for not being interested in the event, Bill," Dipper consoled him. Bill huffed in response and the anger in his eye faded somewhat. 

"I find her reasoning to be irrational, _Pine Tree_ ," he emphasized the nickname and what was originally anger turned into mirth at the sight of Mabel's reaction to what would be considered a term of endearment by her.

Dipper caught Bill's ploy and opened his mouth to scold him but Bill caught him off before he could make a sound.

"Where's Morgan off to? I thought you two would be inseparable," Bill watched at Mabel as he spoke but glanced over at Dipper while she was distracted to give him a wink, or what could be the equivalent of a wink with only one eye.

"She went ahead back to the room. I just came to see how you guys are doing," she paused and shot Dipper a knowing look before she continued, "but it seems that you're almost getting along _too_ well, wink wink nudge nudge." Dipper rubbed his arm where her nudge had become more of a body check; she had hit just above an injury and, however much of an illusion it was, there would be a much larger problem if she aimed just a hair lower. 

Mabel saved them the embarrassment of trying to continue the conversation and left with another hug to Dipper and a farewell to both of them. 

"I thought she would be more social," Dipper muttered quietly to himself. Apparently it hadn't been quiet enough because Bill responded with a grin.

"Oh well," Bill shrugged and grabbed Dipper's arm, "she doesn't know what she's missing." Bill dragged Dipper into line, which was oddly short. It was slightly concerning, but Dipper brushed it off as the crowd thinning. 

Eventually, they reached the front of the line and saw there was an old piece of paper, like a scroll, and two feather quills. The scroll was yellowed with age and covered with names in different handwriting. Some were fading and others stood in dark contrast to the paleness of the paper.

Bill took up a quill and scribbled his name onto the paper, Dipper thought he saw a golden glow once he had finished but it could've been the light on the wet ink. Dipper grabbed the other quill and added his own name into a blank space just below Bill's. If it glowed just as Bill's had, he didn't notice because he was already being carted off again like some dog on a leash.

Dipper sat at one of the many dark, wooden tables that crowded the just as dreary classroom. Bill sat to his right and drew little triangles all over his paper, transforming his pencil between different writing utensils with each new drawing. They were in history class, but the history they were taught was never on a specific lesson, but rather switching between topics each day. Some days it was a history of the school, others it was American history. Today, it was the history of cats. 

The professor, a heavyset man with greying hair slicked back until it was sickeningly shiny, sat at his desk while they were supposed to take notes from what was written on the chalkboard. It was impossible to read from all of the residue from previous lessons so most students, ten out of the twelve, settled for playing card games with cards which revealed either whirling vortexes that swallowed more than one whole bag, a black fire that made Dipper feel on the verge of a panic attack when he stared at it for too long, or an absolutely normal card. The other two students were, predictably, Dipper and Bill.

Dipper glanced over at Bill as he started drawing a triangle stabbing a larger triangle with a small triangle. It was surprisingly detailed and gruesome. It had been a day since they signed up for the competition and yet he was still bothered by something about it but any time he thought about it for too long, he got a massive headache that only lasted for exactly six seconds but always felt like hours.

"Bill," he whispered to him. He raised an eyebrow in acknowledgment but didn't take his eye off of his work. "Do you know when the competition is going to start? How do we even know who is competing?" His main concerns branched from how dangerous it would be, especially if he got picked but there was also that nagging sensation that something was _wrong_. Bill paused in his work and set his pencil, now in its proper form, down before turning to face him. 

"It's a surprise. No one is supposed to know what will happen, who will be chosen, and when it will commence. Got it, Pine Tree?" His voice, sharp enough it could draw blood, wasn't what sent ice through Dipper's veins, it was that he actually gave a straight answer. Although Bill swore he was the master of manipulation, he still had his tells and they showed that he was stressed just as much as Dipper.

Dipper's brain kicked into overdrive. If Bill was stressed about the competition, there was a reason for it. He considered every possible reasoning for why Bill would be concerned about something that was his idea in the first place. There was something Dipper was missing. Something he hadn't looked at yet. Something obvio-

Pain lanced through Dipper's head, sharp and biting and _hurting._ It felt as though his head was being run through a meat grinder, pressed and shredded all at once. He was vaguely aware of Bill next to him, he might've been shaking him, calling his name. He couldn't hear anything except a sharp ringing that overrode all sensations. He possibly felt warm blood trickling down his face, coming out his nose, his ears, his mouth. He could see the other students and teacher gathering around him but it was all fuzzy. 

Just as soon as the pain, the noise, the _hurt_ came, it was gone. He was flooded by sounds and sensations. There was yelling and hands on him and bright light. It was all too much and he let his body go limp while the world dissolved into blissful darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preliminary round

Dipper awoke to see that he was laying in a forest. When he looked down, it was to see that his torso was barren of any clothing and his hips blended into the body of a deer.

 _Oh... great. Bill is going to fucking pay._ Dipper thought venomously. He felt naseua swimming through him and threatening to spill out his throat.

A branch snapped and Dipper whipped his head around to see a man that was behind bushes stand up. Dipper struggled to get his legs gathered up underneath his body without toppling over. Eventually, he was standing on four thin shaky legs and smiled at the man. 

"Hi, um, can you help me? I'm not-" Dipper was cut off when the man raised the shotgun he held in his hands and aimed it at Dipper. Dipper's mind screamed at him to run but his body remained frozen in place.

The sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the forest. 

Dipper slowly cracked open his eyes and saw Bill staring at him a few yards away from where the man that had attempted his murder had stood. Now the man was nowhere to be seen. He realized he had been holding his breath and let it come out in short, shaky gasps. Bill ran over to Dipper and held him to his chest. Dipper noticed that Bill had the luxury of being fully clothed and attempted to bury himself in his layers of flannel and jackets. 

"Little Deerper," Bill chuckled, "you look so tasty." Dipper flushed at the new nickname and shoved Bill away. Bill took the hint and a few steps back.

"Don't call me that," Dipper snapped. His voice spoke of anger but relief flooded through him after the close encounter. Bill grinned and pulled gently at Dipper's ear, which he now realized was also that of a deer's.

Dipper took the time that Bill was spending admiring his new form to take in his as well. The eyepatch was gone, his expensive clothes were traded out for hunter clothing of similar coloring, and his top hat was nowhere in sight. A shotgun was slung around his back.

"What happened?" Dipper asked curiously. 

"Well I woke up here like this. I started walking. I saw a man aiming a gun at you. Then... I shot him." 

"Bill! You can't just shoot people! Especially right now. We don't even know where we are. That's bad!" 

"But he was gonna shoot you! It was self-defense," Bill protested. 

"Your self was not being endangered." Dipper crossed his arms.

"Yes, it was. If you die, I die. It's the rules of the deal. I wouldn't be holding up my end if you die and, consequently, I will also die." That sounded like a suspiciously shit deal for Bill, Dipper thought to himself but didn't bother voicing his concern. He instead turned towards the bushes and walked towards them, tripping over his numerous legs as he moved. 

Dipper came to a stop just before the foliage and stared down at the body crumpled within the leaves and branches. The man that Bill had shot drew in a sharp breath and released a low groan which caused both Dipper and Bill to flinch back. 

"I thought you killed him!"

"I thought so too!" Bill's wide eyes narrowed and he brought a hand up. His fingers snapped and burning blue flames devoured the bush along with the body.

"John! How long does it take to kill a fawn?" A voice with a slow drawl echoed through the trees, dangerously close. Dipper looked at Bill, his eyes wide and his breath frozen in his lungs.

"We need to go. Now." Bill grabbed Dipper's hand and ran in the opposite direction of the voice. Dipper's now deer legs allowed him to run faster than Bill and, once he was able to run without tripping every other step, Bill was trying to keep up with Dipper as they dodged through the forest. There was a shout behind them. 

"JOHN!"

"I suppose they found the hunter," Bill grinned with his now normal teeth. Dipper felt a surprising pang of wistfulness but shook it off.

"Hurry up, Bill." Dipper was waiting a few yards away for Bill to catch up. Bill glared at Dipper and stalked towards him. 

"Well, I'm not half deer. Plus, I'm not a demon either. I'm just a nauseating, normal, nonpowerful fleshsack here." His last statement sparked something in the back of Dipper's mind that he quickly forced back down. He instead searched around before glancing at his deer back. He groaned and glanced at Bill. 

"Get on." 

"What? I'm not going to ride you. But you can certainly ride me anytime, Pine Tree." 

"Get on or I'll leave you and you'll have to fend for yourself." After a pause, he added, "I don't like it any more than you do." 

Bill cautiously walked over to Dipper and put his hand on his back. 

"Are you sure?" He asked, more serious than Dipper had ever seen him.

"Yes. It'll be faster than me waiting all day for you." Dipper glared at him. Bill sighed and pulled himself up onto Dipper's back. Dipper and Bill both shifted until they were comfortable with their position, Bill's being pressed against Dipper's back. 

"Okay you might want to hold on," Dipper warned Bill who wrapped his arms around Dipper's stomach, placing his hands further down than would ever be necessary. His skin tingled at Bill's touch but he ignored it. "Ready?"

"Yep," Bill said and Dipper didn't have to look to know he was wearing his signature grin with a bit less sharpness. Dipper lunged forward to race through the woods.

Dipper began to slow down when he saw the edge of the forest. He stopped by one of the trees near the edge and Bill jumped off of him. 

"What's wrong? I was having so much fun," Bill asked but Dipper shushed him and his ears perked up.

"There's a cabin up ahead. It's empty and should be safe for now." Bill nodded at Dipper's words and followed his cautious steps into the clearing. 

The cabin looked like a cabin straight out of a magazine or movie. The sides were made out of large logs and it looked to be about two stories with an attic. Its triangular-shaped roof and a large porch with warm, glowing lights seemed much more welcoming than the hunters pursuing them. They just had to hope this wasn't their home. 

They walked up to the house and Bill knocked while Dipper stayed back to watch for any danger. They waited for barely a minute before Bill decided that the home was unoccupied at the moment and opened the door with a spark of blue flame around his hand on the handle. Dipper had a faint thought tugging at the back of his mind that told him Bill shouldn't have powers but he clearly did so he ignored it.

The inside of the house was rustic but in a fashionable way. The owners must have been interior designers and rich. Bill closed the door behind them and ran to the couch to sprawl on it with a groan of contentment. The area was large with a living room taking up most of the space. A large kitchen was to Dipper's right and a dining room laid to his left. Wooden stairs led to the second floor. A large fireplace glowed with dying embers on the opposite side of the room and glass doors led to another porch directly across from Dipper.

"Bill," Dipper warned him anxiously, "be careful. You don't want to get caught in a house you broke into." Bill only replied with a groan and rolled over to bury his face into the soft-looking cushions. Dipper sighed and moved towards the stairs, his hooves sliding slightly on the polished hardwood floors. Dipper was glad to see that the upstairs was carpeted. The layout reminded him of a hotel. The stairs brought him to a hall lined with six doors, three on each side, and ended with a large window. 

Dipper made his way down the hall, looking in each room as he passed, a bathroom, a bedroom that looked to belong to two little girls, a master bedroom, a much smaller bathroom with only a toilet and sink, a bedroom painted blue with black accessories. When Dipper reached the last door, he got anxious. Something told him that something was wrong. He wasn't entirely sure what but it was certainly something.

Dipper let curiosity get the better of him and opened the door. At first, all he saw was a closet, but then he began to hear a clicking noise and wind howling. No. It wasn't wind. He felt moist, hot air blow over him and realized. It was something's breath. 

Dipper froze before bolting back downstairs, almost falling in the process. He skidded across the floor as he made his way to Bill.

"Bill," he yelped at the sleeping figure, "we need to leave! Like right now!" Bill looked up at him with fatigue glazing his golden eyes. 

"Can't we just sleep?" Bill asked drowsily. Dipper felt that was a good idea. A desire to just lay down and sleep wound around him, making his limbs feel ten times heavier. His eyes burned and kept slipping shut.

He was about to lay down in front of the fireplace when he heard the chittering noise again. He then remembered the scary monster thing.

"Wait, no! Bill, we need to go." Dipper grabbed Bill's arm and dragged him off of the couch, the action causing Bill's head to hit the ground. Suddenly Bill was standing in front of Dipper with anger flashing dangerously in his eyes. Dipper's own eyes widened and he felt his ears flatten against his head. Bill seemed to realize that it was Dipper standing in front of him and he regained his composure. 

"What's the word, Pinetree?" Bill asked nonchalantly. 

"Uh, there's a monster in here." 

"What kind?"

"A big one?" 

"Oh, well he's not actively attacking us, right?"

"No," Dipper said uncertainly. Bill's casualness made anxiety prickle against his skin.

"Nothing to worry about then." Bill shrugged and moved back to return to the couch but Dipper grabbed his arm and stopped him. 

Standing on the stairs was a giant...centipede. That was the only way to describe it. It had a long, shiny black body and hundreds of spindly legs covered in spikes. Dipper froze as it looked at him and its- what he assumed to be antennae- twitched. 

Dipper ran towards the glass doors while dragging Bill behind him. He threw Bill onto his back and kicked at the glass right before he reached it. The door shattered around them as he jumped through and he felt the glass sharps rip cuts into his body. Dipper ran until he was stumbling over the ground and could run no further. His legs gave out underneath him and he tumbled to the ground, Bill falling out of his grip.

Dipper's eyes shot open and he panted, feeling beads of sweat on his body. He looked down and saw that he was no longer a deer, but his normal self in his dorm's bed. He sighed and fell back against the pillows. It was a dream. 

Dipper looked over and saw Bill laying in his own bed. Bill looked as shaken as Dipper felt but he did a better job at covering it up when he caught him staring. Bill smirked at him with his sharp teeth before speaking.

"Welcome to the competition," he purred and for some reason, it sent fear shooting through Dipper's body.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't edit bc that what made me die for *checks watch* five months so enjoy the rest of this trash fire

Dipper and Bill sat in the mess hall as they waited for breakfast to begin. They were still contemplating the events of last night. They knew that the dream was part of the contest but hadn't realized it would happen so quickly. 

Dipper kept glancing around and moving anything he could in his anxious state. Bill was better at hiding his current emotions, but he was worryingly quiet. They had discussed earlier that morning if the other contestants had the same dream. Dipper theorized that maybe the dream was a way to see which volunteers were capable of having a chance of survival in the tournament. 

They were both interested in seeing who else was chosen for the event and kept their eyes, or in Bill's case- eye, out for people with similar shaken expressions, but nobody else seemed too frightened. Dipper heard Bill sigh and looked over to see him shake and drop his head. 

"It's no use trying to guess who else is participating because we will know soon enough." Mere moments after Bill had finished talking, the bell signaling that breakfast would soon commence began to toll and they both straightened their backs to wait for the staff to enter. 

As the sounds of the bell's echoing ringing faded, the professors lined the room and the doors merged together. Dipper noticed that they were tense today and some of them cast anxious glances at nearby students. Soon enough the headmaster came through with the lead professor and took her position, we all waited for her to speak. Dipper noticed that although she held her composure, the atmosphere seemed thick with tension. 

"The students that will represent our school in the competition have been chosen. Their names will be announced at the end of breakfast today. The process for choosing the students to embody the qualities of our fair school is a confidential one, but it has chosen only the very best pupils. I trust that they will hold our name in honor and give us no shame. In other news, I would be pleased to announce that the title of winner for last night's hockey game belongs to the Illusionary students, " some clapping arose from the Dark and Light students but a thunderous roar of cheering and hollering erupted from the Illusionary table and the Earth table remained silent. 

Dipper had wanted to go to the match but Bill had made him get sidetracked and he had forgotten about it until this moment. The headmaster smiled warmly and Dipper saw her blue eyes spark with pleasure before she continued her speech, "it was a close call and both classes gave it their best efforts. With that being said, Friday's game is still on between the Light and Dark classes. I hope they challenge each other and we all enjoy the event. Now, enough of me blathering, let's eat."

Food appeared across the tables as the headmaster moved to her seat and excited chattering broke out amongst the students as they stuffed themselves with whatever they got their hands on. Dipper was momentarily astounded most of the students weren't morbidly obese. 

"It's because some of them can change their appearance. A lot of them also exercise a lot by going on missions and fighting. Plus this campus is huge, some students have to run over ten miles daily. And that's on a relaxed day too." Bill's voice suddenly talking about what Dipper was just thinking about made him panic briefly before he recalled that Bill was a dream demon and could consequently read his thoughts whenever he wanted. Bill realized that Dipper was frustrated about Bill's almost omnipotence and gave a quiet apology for invading his thoughts. 

"You should ask people before you do that, Bill. It's... " Dipper paused as he searched for the right word. 

"Rude? Insensitive? A violation of standard human rights? Trust me, Pinetree. I've heard it all before, " Bill spoke venomously before he rose from his seat and disappeared with a snap of his fingers. Dipper hadn't realized that Bill was so stressed. He was partially concerned about what Bill might do to someone who actually ticks him off in this mood but he was more concerned with why Bill was being so upset. 

Dipper didn't have any time to ponder over Bill's mentality before the headmaster stood once more and a hushed silence fell upon the room. The tension that hovered in the air was suffocating as we waited impatiently for the names of the students who will go against the Canadian school. 

After what felt like ages, the headmaster finally spoke, "I will now announce the names of the students who will face off against our sister school in Canada. There will be three rounds, one will be held at each respective school and the third will be held at an undisclosed location. With that said, here are the names of the students participating in the Winter Games. First, Mason 'Dipper' Pines from the Dark Magic class, " a loud wave of clapping erupted from the students and people nearby him patted his shoulders and back. The headmaster gave him a small smile that Dipper couldn't help but return. 

"Next, " she continued, "is William 'Bill' Cipher, also from the Dark Magic class." The applause for Dipper seemed like a small snap compared to the noise that rose from the students when Bill's name was announced. It sounded like an explosion as Dipper's ears rang from the high decibels of noise in the air. 

The noise from the students had only begun to fade when the bell tolled once more and students began to flood out into the halls. Dipper was pushed along with the flow and decided that going to his classes would be more important at this moment than concerning himself with the games. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The edited vers is completely divergent from the og, i apologize profusely for the change in plot bc I literally do not have it in me to edit this trash fire rn

Dipper had been going to his classes today but he couldn't focus on the lesson and he would be abruptly pulled out of his thoughts by the sharp scold of the professor or a warning from a nearby classmate to focus. It was only almost eleven forty in the morning but Dipper felt like he had been awake for weeks.

His thoughts varied from worrying about the games to wondering where Bill was and sometimes his mind would go blank and the feeling of someone tapping his shoulder gently make him flinch and turn to face the person that was standing behind him. The professor looked down at him with sympathetic grey eyes. 

"Dipper, " he began with a gentle voice, "I understand that you may be concerned about the games but can you tell me anything from today's lessons?" Dipper glanced furtively around the room for any hints and all he saw were the eyes of his classmates staring at him with a broad range of emotions. The professor sighed and Dipper's attention was dragged back to the aging man. 

"Go to your dorm. You're obviously not here mentally so there's no reason for you to be here physically." Dipper wanted to protest but his voice refused to exit his throat. The professor shook his head gently and a few greying hairs fell into his face but he didn't bother moving them back into place as he moved away from Dipper and back towards his desk. 

Dipper grabbed his bag and the textbook he hadn't even been reading from the top of the table forlornly and made his way out the room shamefully as he felt the gazes of others track his movements. Once he was in the hall and freed from the piercing stares, he made his way to the library. 

Dipper found the library easily and as he pushed the doors open the bell began to echo throughout the hall announcing the time was now noon. Lunch would be in a half-hour. He realized that he hadn't eaten since last night's dinner but his stomach didn't beg him for food so he could skip lunch today. 

Dipper made his way through the shelves of books that seemed to continue stretching up for infinity. Some books were brand new hardcovers and others were bound with cracking leather and contained yellowing pages that seemed older than time. There were even a few scrolls piled up on some shelves. 

Dipper eventually saw a book that piqued his interest. It was a thick leather-bound book and when he looked at the front cover of it he realized that there was a golden six-fingered hand with a three written on the palm of it. He pulled it out and blew most of the dust that covered it off. The strange hand reflected the limited amount of light and the gold seemed to glow faintly. 

Dipper plopped down with his legs crossed and opened up to the first page. 

_Property of-_

There was a piece of paper that was supposed to indicate the owner but the piece that contained the name was inconveniently missing. Dipper flipped to the next page and realized that the book was a journal from the date scribbled into it and brief entry recorded below it. 

Dipper's curiosity was more than piqued and his eyes ran hungrily over the letters on the page as he tried to absorb all the information he possibly could and then some. He paused as he noticed an interesting location written in the journal. 

Gravity Falls, Oregon. That was another alias for Mystic Falls. The town had such a bad reputation that it only attracted kooks and all normal, sane tourists were driven off. Eventually, in a desperation attempt to regain the tourism population they changed the name to Mystic Falls. 

Even more entranced than before, Dipper began to read through the rest of the book. He learned about monsters, like gnomes and vampires, and secrets of the town. Dipper had read only about twenty pages because he wanted to try and decipher some of the codes in the journal. He realized most were Ceasar or Atbash and after racking his brain for a few minutes he was able to remember how to solve them. There was one cipher that he couldn't figure out. It seemed to be written in some sort of hieroglyphs. He decided to keep reading to see if there was a key to solve it contained further in the journal. 

Dipper turned the page and was started by how the emotions of the writer seemed to jump off the pages and replace his own. He grew anxious looking at the red pen at the corner of the page reading _DO NOT SUMMON AT ALL COSTS_ and _CAN'T BE REAL_. There seemed to be splatters of red ink on the pages and scribbles over some entries. Dipper finally laid his eyes on the drawing of a triangle with a single eye, a top hat and bow, and ridiculous stick arms. The ridiculousness of the body proportions suddenly disappeared when Dipper finally looked at the name of the creature. 

_Bill Cipher_

The book suddenly slammed shut and instantaneously disappeared from Dipper's lap. He jumped up and whirled around to see who took the book but was met with only bookshelves and empty halls. The bell then decided to toll suddenly and Dipper jumped into the air out of fear. He realized it was just the bell ringing and leaned against the nearest shelf while he waited for his heart rate to stabilize itself again. 

Once his breathing evened out and his blood pressure dropped back into an acceptable level, he moved toward the door of the library cautiously. The maze of shelves and books seemed empty enough though and when he reached the wooden doors he wondered where it would take him. He didn't feel like eating and the headmaster doesn't announce important things at lunch, just breakfast and dinner. Dipper sighed and pushed the door open, closing his eyes and bracing himself for the wave of noises to wash over him.

But it never came. He opened his eyes and looked around in confusion before he realized the other side of the door led to the Dark Magic common room. He stepped inside the room and the door closed behind him but when he glanced around, it was gone and the only door there was the one to the hall. He turned back to the room and noticed it was barren. He was used to at least one student lounging around in here at all hours of the day but they must have just gone to lunch. 

Dipper moved through the room, up the stairs, and stopped once he was standing in front of the dorm he shared with Bill. He didn't know why but he wanted to turn and flee. He needed to get away. Just as Dipper was about to back away, the door flew open revealing Bill standing there and staring at him. 

"Pinetree, " he started but Dipper backed up and bolted. He needed to get to Mabel and they needed to leave. Just as Dipper skidded into the hall, he felt a hand grab his arm with a grip like iron. 

"Let me go!" Dipper shouted and turned to face Bill who stared at him with desperation in his eyes. 

"You're a demon. I never should've trusted you, " Dipper hissed at him and Bill's desperation turned to anger.

"Now isn't this interesting?" His voice echoing slightly on the last word. "You think you can stop me? Go ahead, Pinetree. Show me what you got." 

Dipper struggled to find words as he stammered and looked around the empty halls. Bill could kill him. Bill could've killed him any time he wanted to. 

"I UM I. Do it, kid. Do some brilliant thing that takes me down right now. Whattdya got, Pinetree, everyone's waiting. DO IT!"

Dipper growled in frustration and swung his fist at Bill's face. Bill grabbed his hand as it approached and blue light flashed as Dipper was thrown backward. He felt pain explode as his back slammed into the wall and he slid down to the ground with a groan. 

"Not much of a threat now, are you?" Bill took his time as he approached Dipper who struggled to stand up and face him. Bill grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the wall once more. Dipper felt his head hit the wall and heard a loud crack. 

"I was going to explain it to you nicely, but you had to make it hard for me to get you to listen, didn't you?" Dipper groaned, unable to form intelligible words. 

"Listen here kid, " Bill's voice softened slightly, "I didn't want to hurt you. We need to work together if we want to survive the games." 

"I will never work with you again, " Dipper spat out.

"That's what old sixers said too." Dipper was confused by what he meant but nothing he said made sense. He was insane. Dipper was insane for thinking he could be trusted.

"We've made a deal, Pinetree. Remember? I've saved your life three times. You owe me." Bill slammed Dipper against the wall again before releasing him. Dipper's knees gave out and he fell to the ground like a child's doll. 

Bill stared at him and Dipper thought he saw different emotions conflicting behind his eye but then he disappeared and Dipper felt the tension leave his body. The bell began to toll once more and the last thing Dipper saw was students coming into the hall then rushing towards him. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God old me sure does love infodumping. I, again, apologize for his rubbish.

When Dipper came to, the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't in his bed at home. The second thing he noticed was, he wasn't in his bed in the dorm. The last things he noticed were, he was in the medical wing he never realized existed and he was there because of Bill. 

He looked at his surroundings and saw that it seemed like a normal hospital room with enough room to hold at least ten patients. It had light greyish-blue walls and a white ceiling with light fixtures running along with it. The other beds were neatly made and unoccupied. He saw a shadow fall over him and looked up to see what he assumed to be the nurse. 

She gave him a friendly smile that crinkled the dark skin around her kind hazel eyes. She pushed a strand of short, greying light brown hair behind her ear and greeted him. 

"I'm glad that you're up, Mr. Pines, " her voice had a southern drawl that reminded him of sweet iced tea and honey. Dipper tried to sit up to give her a smile but the second he moved his vision blurred and pain exploded behind his eyes. She rushed over to his side and gently laid him back down onto the bed. 

"Oh no, Mr. Pines, " she chided him lightly, "you ain't goin' anywhere anytime soon. We thought you were half past dead. Who did this to you?" Dipper thought back to last night and remembered how dangerous Bill seemed. He was like a demon. He is a demon, his thoughts reminded him sharply. Dipper shook his head slowly and closed his eyes. 

"Alright, I'll let you get some more sleep. You definitely need it." He heard her retreating footsteps and waited a minute before he sat up again and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He winced as his body screamed at him and he grew light-headed. It passed a moment later and he slowly dropped down from the bed. 

His legs almost gave underneath him but he grabbed the bed and pulled himself to his feet. He took a few shaky steps until he was by the end of the bed. His bed was the closest one to the door so he wouldn't have to go too far. He pushed off the bed and began to move as quickly as possible to the two oak doors. 

He stumbled and tripped a few times as he crossed the relatively short distance but it felt like he had run a marathon. His vision was almost black and his legs threatened to collapse at any moment but he finally felt the cool wood against his skin and he sagged against the door in relief. He pushed on the door until it creaked open he slipped through. 

He wasn't sure where he was going, but his body slowly dragged him through the familiar or unfamiliar halls of the school. Strangely enough, once he was out of the hospital wing, he began to feel more energized and soon he was able to walk without stumbling. He continued walking around for what seemed like forever but eventually, he stopped in front of a black door he didn't recognize. 

The door slowly creaked open and the further it got from the frame, the less energy he had. Once it was fully open his body crumpled and his vision blacked just as he hit the floor. 

*********************************

Dipper heard voices speaking faintly. Their words were echoed and he wasn't sure who the owners of the words were. Eventually, they became clearer and he could make out what they were saying. 

"He's been like this all day, Ford. What are we gonna tell the kid if he doesn't wake up?" Ford? Dipper couldn't recognize the voice of the man talking but his voice was gruff with age. 

"I'm sure he will be fine, Stanley. Go do something with Mabel and relax." Mabel? What was Mabel doing? Who was Stanley? 

Dipper slowly peeled opened his eyes and groaned as bright light assaulted him. He looked around with blurry vision and could tell that he wasn't in the medical wing or any other place he recognized.

He let his eyes adjust and saw a fit middle-aged man with a large reddish nose, messy graying hair and sideburns, slight beard stubble, and six fingers on each hand standing over him. A smile broke out onto the man's face when he saw that Dipper was awake. 

"Dipper! What happened? You've been unconscious all day, " the man began but then paused. "Are you thirsty? Hungry? You should eat."

The man turned and rushed out of the room before Dipper could even respond. Dipper took this time to look around the room. It had a wooden interior and a triangular window by the head of his bed. A similar bed with pink bedding was parallel to his blue one on the other side of the room.

Loud, quick footsteps approaching from outside the door distracted him from his scan of the room and a second later the door flew open. Mabel rushed in along with the two older men and soon he was bombarded with questions. 

Once they quieted down a bit, Dipper was able to finally think clearly. Obviously, the two older men knew him personally. He had figured out who was Ford and who was Stanley, or Grunkle Stan. He realized that they were, indeed, his great-uncles. Suddenly strange memories that he never knew about rushed over him.

He saw flashes of coming from California to Gravity Falls, Oregon for the summer. He met Grunkle Stan, Soos, and Wendy. They immediately ran into a mystery when Dipper found a journal in the woods identical to the one he saw in the library.

They fought gnomes that tried to marry his twin sister and as the days passed, they found and fought more monsters. There was a weird kid with white hair obsessed with Mabel, Gideon. Gideon summoned a demon from one of the other journals he found to try and steal the Mystery Shack, the place he was in now.

The demon that was summoned was Bill Cipher. Instead of looking like the person Dipper met and befriended at Mystic Falls, he looked like a yellow triangle with one eye. Stan was finally able to bring his brother out of Bill's home universe that he was trapped in for thirty years. Bill tried killing them and taking over the world but the weirdness bubble contained him and eventually, they were able to defeat him. Almost five years later, they finally returned back to the place it all began. 

The flashes of scenes faded and released him. Dipper gasped and panted at the sudden surge of new information. The others looked at him with concern and he gave them a reassuring smile. Ford handed Dipper a plate of pancakes and a glass of cool water before ushering the others out of the room. Mabel stayed behind and after a bit of arguing, Ford allowed it. Dipper suddenly realized how different she looked. 

Her body was still the same, but she was wearing a pink sweater with a shooting star on it and a purple skirt. Dipper's eyes flitted to look at his own clothes and realized that the dark jeans and shirt from that morning were replaced with an orange shirt with a blue vest and grey shorts. 

"Mabel? What happened?" 

"I don't know, bro-bro. I got up this morning and you were still asleep but it's rare for you to get any so I left you alone but when I came back you didn't wake up. We were scared, Dipper. We thought you weren't gonna wake up." Mabel sniffed and Dipper realized her eyes were watering. She threw her arms around him in an embrace and he hugged her back, just now realizing that he was a little sore but not as sore as he should be. 

"Hey, Mabel, " Dipper began, "can you go tell the Grunkles that I'm fine now. I'll be down in a bit. I just want to eat by myself right now." Mabel pulled away and nodded before disappearing through the doorway and shutting the door quietly behind her. 

Once she was gone, Dipper sat up and pulled up his shirt to reveal bruising but it looked like it was old. He pushed on the colored skin and saw that it wasn't as tender as it would be had the injuries been fresh. Dipper pulled his shirt back down and climbed out of the bed. He headed towards the door as quietly as possible before cracking it open and listening to the voices that drifted up from downstairs. 

"If Bill wasn't dead then I'd say that this was his doing but that's impossible. Even for him." Dipper identified the voice as Ford's. 

"Well, we did get my memories back, " Grunkle Stan began, "maybe my memories weren't the only things brought back? Somebody could've summoned him again too." 

"No, that isosceles triangle is never coming back. We couldn't have done all that work for nothing." 

"As much as I'd love for that to be true, Mabel. Stan does have a point." 

"Yeah, well the next time I see that monster I'll make sure he wishes he never came back, " Stan threatened and Dipper couldn't doubt that he would hold up to that promise. The sound of their voices began to fade and Dipper realized that they must be walking away. 

He decided to go get some fresh air so he slipped downstairs and was able to get outside without notice. He headed towards the forest and he wasn't really sure where he was heading and let his feet take him over the terrain that grew more familiar with each step. Soon he came to a clearing and something in the back of his mind screamed that something was wrong. Something was supposed to be here but it wasn't. 

"Oh, Gravity Falls! It is good to be back!" A familiar voice spoke up behind him. Dipper spun around to face the demon. 

"Bill, " he growled and the yellow triangle laughed. 

"Pinetree, " Bill mocked him, "how's the family? Still hates me?" 

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead!" 

"Death is just a concept, kid. Now, you should go and tell Sixers, Fez, and Shooting Star that I'm back." Dipper backed up slowly before turning and bolting back to the Mystery Shack. He threw open the shop door, startling many customers, and yelled as loud as he could, "Bill!" 

Dipper shot up in his bed and looked around panting. He realized that he was in his bed in the attic and fell back onto the sheets with a sigh. It was just a dream. Everything was just a dream. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it wasn't because of sentimental value, I would've saved your eyes from this work as a whole and deleted it a long time ago.

Dipper moved downstairs and into the kitchen. He saw that Mabel and Stan were sitting at the table with freshly made Stancakes and Mabel was chugging down a container of Mabeljuice. He was surprised that she would still consume that monstrous excuse for a beverage.

It took them a few minutes to notice him lurking in the doorway, but he enjoyed just watching them talk and laugh. Watching them be happy. Mabel was the first to see him and grinned when she realized that he came down from the room. 

"Took you long enough, " Stan grumbled but Dipper saw that he was hiding a smile. Dipper chuckled and pulled himself a seat at the table before helping himself to some Stancakes. 

"Yeah, but I had the weirdest dream last night, " Dipper trailed off, lost in thought but Ford's inquiring voice brought him back.

"What was it about?" They all looked up and saw that the scientist had emerged from his lab and was standing in the entryway to the kitchen. 

Dipper shook his head before beginning. "It was so strange. Mabel and I were the kids of two people called Cas and Dean? They sent us to a school that was a lot like Hogwarts..." Dipper explained everything that happened in his dream to them and they listened mostly silently, only interrupting when he didn't explain something enough. When he was done, Stan laughed at his story. 

"That's some pretty big imagination, kid. I knew you shouldn't have hung around my brother and his books so much." 

"Stanley, " Ford scolded him, "dreams can be very revealing to the unconsciousness and the mindscape. Perhaps Dipper went into a separate reality or universe." 

"You think Dipper would be friends with Bill in any universe? That demon tried to kill our family! Bill can't have friends. He doesn't know what they are." Grunkle Stan was bristling with anger and the younger Pines looked at each other, anxious of the impending fight between the older twins. 

Whether it be fortune or misfortune, Mabel and Dipper would find that their interference would not be needed. It was supplied by someone else. 

Wendy burst into the kitchen and was soon accompanied by Soos. They had to pant for a few minutes before they were finally able to get out what needed to be said. 

"St-stan, " Wendy began, her breathing impairing her speech, "somebody- needs to see you."

"Who?" Mabel spoke up, confusion visible on her face. 

"We- we don't know, dudes, " Soos gasped out and we stood up from the table. 

"Alright then. Who is this mystery person?" Grunkle Stan fixed the sleeves of his suit and pushed any loose dollars back inside. 

********************************

Wendy and Soos led the group of Pines to the spot where they had met the person. It was only about a mile walk but Dipper could see how sprinting from here to the Mystery Shack would tire anybody out. 

They emerged in a small clearing and saw Tad Strange looking around, seemingly lost. Wendy and Soos knew Tad, why'd they say that they didn't know who it was? Tad turned around at their approach and greeted them with a warm smile. Dipper thought he saw a flash of purple in his dark eyes, but it was gone so quickly that Dipper brushed it off as a glare of light. 

"Hello everyone. I was looking for bread one moment and then the next I ended up here. I don't recall traveling to this particular spot." 

Wendy and Soos started stammering and looking around as if they had missed something. 

"No, no. I swear there was some weird dude with, like, purple eyes. Where did he go?" Wendy spun around and groaned. Soos was saying something similar to her statement and was also scanning the nearby environment. 

Ford and Stan looked at each other and shrugged. Mabel watched the scene unfold with intense curiosity. Dipper stared at Tad who regarded the others with a smile that seemed to grow more sinister by the second. 

Suddenly, the world froze. Time stopped and the color drained from everything. Dipper heard a familiar voice behind him and his blood ran cold. 

"Pinetree, " Bill began. He didn't sound like the evil, demon triangle that tried to control the world though. He sounded like the person that Dipper had befriended at Mystic Falls. But that was a dream. That side of Bill was just a hopeless fantasy. 

Dipper slowly turned around to face Bill. He noticed that he wasn't a yellow triangle but rather the person that greeted him on his first day to Mystic Falls Academy. The person that beat him in the halls. The person that rescued him from Cristo. Dipper wasn't sure if he should be relieved to see Bill or hate him for trying to manipulate him like this. 

"What do you want, Bill?" He seemed to flinch at the coldness in Dipper's voice but Dipper knew it was fake. A lie like everything else. 

"Pinetree, this is one of the tests for the Winter Games. I thought it would be last but I guess they wanted to pit us against each other before we go against another. They're trying to test our bond. Our friendship." Dipper shook his head, he didn't believe him, he couldn't trust a demon. Bill seemed to grow more distressed. 

"Pinetree, please! You have to believe me. If you don't then you'll stay here and die. All of this is an illusion-"

"An illusion by you! You're trying to manipulate me for whatever insane plan you have this time. It's not going to work, Bill. I'm never trusting you again." 

Bill's coloring grew red and Dipper took a frightened step back but Bill seemed to glance over his shoulder and his color normalized again. 

"Listen, Pinetree. I can't force you to come back. You have to make that decision for yourself. I just want you to know that the Journal and what I did to you in the hall... It was the beginning of the test. I never would've done that to you under normal conditions. That's actually what helped me realize that this reality isn't real." Bill sighed and closed his eye, seemingly realizing that Dipper wouldn't believe him no matter what he said. But maybe actions can scream louder than words. 

Bill opened his eye again and stared at Dipper. He took a hesitant step forward but was somehow able to make it threatening rather than innocent. Fear grew in Dipper's eyes and Bill felt a strange, overwhelming desire to rid him of his anxieties and troubles. 

Bill rushed at Dipper and slammed his lips against his softer ones. It wasn't teasing or mocking like the first time he kissed him. It was real. Dipper struggled against Bill, resistant to his affections and he felt something inside him break. He separated himself from Dipper and Dipper shoved him once he was freed. 

"What the fuck was that? You think that you can get me to do what you want by- by doing whatever the hell that was?" Dipper shouted at Bill and he just met his angry gaze with an even, cold stare. 

"Make your decision, Pinetree, " Bill snapped his fingers and disappeared, bringing the world back to normality. Dipper turned to see that everyone had collapsed and Tad was staring at their crumpled forms. 

"Oh, " he frowned, "it seems I have missed one." 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the demon Tad headcannons, as seen below

Tad Strange was the person that nobody would suspect of being a tad strange but here he was, standing over the, hopefully, unconscious forms of Dipper's friends and family. He couldn't see if they were breathing or not but he was too occupied with Tad to check. 

"Oh, don't worry, " Tad chuckled, noticing Dipper's concern, "they aren't hurt." Tad snapped his fingers and Dipper thought the sound had echoed for a moment before he recognized the sound as multiple bones breaking. Dipper looked at the others and when he saw the impossible angles their heads were at, he turned and vomited the continents of his stomach. 

Tad shook his head with false sympathy. "I'm sorry, Dipper. I thought you would enjoy your little gift, " he paused in consideration before continuing, "perhaps I can make it up to you?" Tad snapped his fingers again and his normally normal clothes were covered with a purple tailcoat and a black umbrella appeared in his hand. 

He gave Dipper a grin as he slowly approached him. Dipper was suddenly reminded of the documentaries he watched sometimes and when the lion would slowly creep up upon unsuspecting prey. Dipper knew that if he ran, he would die. He also knew that if he stayed, he would die. There was no choice for him. 

Well, there was but that option was unacceptable. Totally out of the question. He would never ask a demon that has previously tried to kill him to protect him from another demon that is currently trying to kill him. He would just have to do this himself. 

Dipper watched Tad approach, his heart beating so erratically that he thought Tad would hear it. Dipper thought out the best possible escape to avoid being caught by the psychotic demon. Dipper waited as Tad came closer to him, one agonizingly slow step after another. Eventually, Tad was standing in front of Dipper, a disappointed smile on his face. 

"I was waiting for you to run, " Tad purred into Dipper's ear and he shuddered, disgusted, as his breath grazed against his skin. Dipper screwed his eyes shut, locking up all of his own morals before proceeding with his plan. He pushed his body against Tad's and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. 

Dipper felt Tad chuckle and try to push Dipper away lightly but he tightened his grip and Tad stiffened with the realization of what Dipper was attempting at. Dipper slipped behind Tad and began to strangle him with all his might while he kicked out at the back of his knees to drop him to the ground. Dipper's foot finally found its mark and Tad's legs gave out from under him. Dipper thought that he had finally beaten the demon before he felt his body flying through the air.

Dipper landed at the base of a tree and coughed. The grass was sprinkled red with fresh blood and Dipper wiped at his mouth to see some more smudged onto his hand. He looked up to see Tad glaring at him, a purple fire burned behind his eyes. Dipper tried to scramble away in terror but within a blink of an eye, Tad was in front of him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. 

"I should kill you right now. Let your body be a message, send my regards to hell." Tad pushed Dipper down to his knees and moved his grip to his throat, cutting off his oxygen. Dipper clawed at his hands as his face turned different shades. Just when Dipper thought he was going to die, Tad released him and took a step back. 

Dipper fell over, gasping and coughing. He looked up at Tad through teary vision and saw that Tad was playing with him. He wouldn't kill him quickly. He'd get him right on the verge of death before pulling him back and starting the process again. 

Bill had said that if he didn't want to go back then he would die here but he was wrong. He wasn't going to die here. He'd be tortured for however long Tad wanted. Dipper let out a shaky breath before he started muttering something Tad couldn't hear. Tad's grin expanded and he leaned down towards Dipper. He had broken him before he even started.

"Giving up so soon?" Tad purred as he knelt down by the trembling boy. Dipper stilled and turned to face Tad. He gave him a small smile. 

"Change of plans, " Dipper whispered hoarsely. Tad tilted his head in confusion before he whirled around and saw Bill stepping over Mabel's body as he stalked towards the other demon. Bill glowed red and matching flames licked up his arms. 

"Oh look who finally decided to join us. Would you-" Tad was cut off by Bill punching him to the ground. Tad groaned and looked up at Bill who stood over him, glaring. Dipper struggled to his feet, he could feel the anger radiating off of Bill. He needed to get them back to the academy before Bill did something regrettable. 

"Bill, " Dipper groaned at the pain that came from enunciating that one word. Bill didn't acknowledge him so he staggered towards him and grabbed his arm. Bill gradually turned his head towards Dipper but let his eyes remain on Tad's body. 

"Bill, " Dipper tried again and this time Bill looked at him. "Let's go." Bill nodded and allowed Dipper to pull him away. Dipper noticed Tad sit up behind them but ignored him. Unfortunately, Bill didn't. 

"Leaving so soon? We were just getting started, " Tad hummed softly and laughed in surprise when Bill was at his throat a second later. 

"Take me out to dinner first, " Tad purred at Bill which aggravated him even more. 

"Want to hear a riddle, Pinetree?" Bill asked Dipper glancing over his shoulder at him. 

"What?" Dipper had no idea what Bill was playing at. He was afraid that Bill would get them killed but Tad wouldn't allow them to leave as long as he lived. 

"How many cuts does it take to get to the center of a meat sack?" Bill was suddenly wielding a knife and had it pressed against Tad's chest. 

"Oh no, " Tad screeched in mock fear, "don't cut me! I'll do anything!" Bill knew that demons found pain hilarious so he wasn't going to let Tad enjoy it for too long. He ran the blade down Tad's arm with a laugh. 

"One, " he began to count. "Two, " the blade sliced Tad's other arm. "Three!" He stabbed Tad in the chest, right through where his heart was located. Tad cried out as Bill pulled the knife out and plunged it back in again, and again, and again. Bill continued attacking Tad long after his body had stilled and blood was splattered across the entire clearing, plants, the bodies of Dipper's family, and Dipper himself were covered in the red liquid. 

Dipper had given up on trying to stop the demon and stared in horror as he watched Bill be covered in more and more blood. Soon the pace of the blade's movement slowed and Bill finally released Tad's shredded body. He was panting heavily and turned around to face Dipper. He wiped his face against his sleeve, smearing the blood. 

Dipper shuddered as Bill approached him and passed by. He followed after him and they headed towards the Mystery Shack in silence. They reached the building and ignored the stares of startled customers. Bill opened the door to the gift shop area and Dipper saw that it opened to the dining hall of Mystic Falls Academy. 

They moved inside and the students fell silent at the sight of the two. Dipper scanned the Light Magic table until he found Mabel and he ran towards her. She met him halfway and they embraced tightly. It wasn't an awkward sibling hug. It was a reunited sibling hug. They pulled apart and Dipper sniffed as he tried to hold back tears. 

"I thought I lost you, " Dipper sighed.

"Me too." They hugged again, quickly this time and Mabel moved reluctantly back to her seat as Dipper moved back next to Bill. 

They could tell from the look on the headmaster's face that they were in for one hell of a lecture. 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have one question for anyone who enjoyed this fic. Why?

Dipper didn't expect them to be rewarded for the brutal murder Bill committed but he also didn't anticipate the reaction that was given. The headmaster turned to them and the room fell even quieter than it had been a few moments ago. 

"We see that you have succeeded in completing the first trial of the games. Although your methods may have been, " she paused, looking for the correct word to employ, "extreme, " is what she settled on. "We still have to consider what would have occurred had no action been taken at all." 

The air in the room shifted and suddenly Bill, Dipper, and the headmaster were standing in the clearing. They could see Tad looming over Dipper who lay on the ground, barely moving. Blood was welling from a large cut on his face along with smaller ones scattered across his body. 

Tad knelt down next to Dipper and grabbed his chin with a little more force than necessary and made him look at him. Dipper stared past Tad, his eyes glazed and unfocused. 

"Oh don't tell me you're like your family already. We were just getting started. Speaking of, " Tad glanced down at the bodies of the older Pine twins, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy distastefully, "I think they ruin the mood, don't you?" Tad snapped his fingers and their bodies disappeared in a rush of purple flames. 

"That's better. Now, we should get you cleaned up. Don't want to walk around with a broken toy. What would people think then?" Tad snapped his fingers again and suddenly they were in a room that Dipper knew was a bedroom but he wasn't sure where. Tad set Dipper, now cleaned and bandaged, down on the bed where he instantly passed out.

The room was a simple one, decorated with varying shades of blue and purple. There was a desk, dresser, bed, and three white doors. One was open and led to a small full bathroom. Tad moved inside the said bathroom but they couldn't see what he was doing and none of them were sure if they wanted to look. 

Eventually, Tad emerged from the room and stalked towards the foot of the bed. He snapped his fingers and Dipper stirred from his unconscious state. He sat up and when he looked at Tad he tried to run away but shackles appeared at his wrists and ankles, preventing his escape. 

"Calm now, Dipper. The more you struggle, the more it'll hurt, " Tad held up his hand which held multiple sharp instruments. The image distorted and faded along with Dipper's panicked screams. 

The trio was now standing in a vast, ornate room. It seemed to be an old log manor decorated with blue and purple. They stood in front of a large set of stairs that led to a landing connected to the wall and two separate, smaller stairs on opposite ends. Tad stood at the top of the stairs and seemed to be staring right at them but Dipper glanced over his shoulder and noticed the large crowd of varying creatures standing behind them. Tad smiled at the mass of clustered people while they milled about below him. 

Dipper was unsure why this would be important to their lesson but he would soon realize why the headmaster wanted to show him this. Tad held up a wine glass that they hadn't noticed him holding earlier and tapped it. The light touch sent an echo that sounded like he had just shattered the glass right next to Dipper's ear. Once Tad was sure he had everyone's attention the noise subsided and the glass vanished. 

"Thank you all for coming tonight. I am not one for parties but I felt that an occasion as special as this deserves one. What may be the occasion you ask? Well, today marks the day three years after I had destroyed the Pines family and gained control over Gravity Falls." Tad smirked as howling and cheering erupted from the demons in celebration of Tad's news. 

"Wait, " Tad glanced around dramatically as if he was looking for something or someone, "I seem to have forgotten something." A blanket of silence fell over the crowd as Tad walked towards the stairs leading to the left. 

"Oh, dear? Would you mind showing everyone what I've prepared?" There was a pregnant silence before the faint sound of footsteps echoed from above them. When Dipper saw the owner of the footsteps he felt the air being ripped out of his lungs. 

Dipper stood atop the stairs with his hair neatly combed back and his tailored blue tailcoat neatly settled around him. Dipper and Bill barely had any time to react before the sight disappeared and they found themselves back in the dining hall. 

"Now you have seen what would have become of you, Dipper, had you decided to remain in that reality. You did well during this trial and we are glad that you finally made the decision for the betterment of our school." The headmaster stared levelly at Dipper as she spoke and it was hard for him to not feel intimidated. The headmaster turned to Bill who had an unreadable expression on his face. 

"We understand that you were the first to realize that this was a trial, yes?" The question was rhetorical so Bill remained silent but he gave a slight inclination of his head in acknowledgment. "We appreciated your determination to ensure that Mason returned to the academy but your overtly violent techniques can harm our good name if you continue resorting to them. Therefore, as a punishment, there shall be an extra round in which the student representatives from the Canadian Academy of Magic & Supernatural will have to work against each other as will you."

That didn't sound too bad. They would probably have a cross-team up or something like that. Plus it's an extra round so it can't be as extreme as the actual rounds. Dipper was so lost in thought that he almost didn't notice when the headmaster introduced our competition from the other school. 

"Please give a friendly welcome to Pacifica Northwest and Gideon Gleeful from the Academy of Magic & Supernatural!" 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy I really was a sucker for Dipper getting the sleep he deserves

Dipper evaluated his competition. Pacifica wore a purple dress and jacket with black leggings and fur boots. Her blonde hair fell past her shoulders and she looked around in disgust that she didn't even attempt to hide. She didn't just think she was better than us. She knew it.

Gideon had a blue suit with a little American pin on the lapel. Why did he have an American pin if he's from Canada? His light clothing and white hair made his complexion that much paler. His hairstyle seemed to be trying to compensate for his short height. His confidence was similar to Pacifica's but seemed much more menacing. 

There was a man, seemingly in his twenty's, standing behind the pair. He wore a black jacket decorated with a bloody, stitched heart and skinny jeans. His dark hair fell into his eyes that glanced around, obviously longing to be anywhere else. The man ushered the two between the tables and brought them up to stand in front of Bill and Dipper. 

"Welcome back, Robbie, " the headmaster greeted him kindly. He brushed her off but Dipper noticed a small grin appear when he looked away. 

"You should take this time to get to know each other. You may have to put your life in one another's hands, " her words made Dipper look uncertainly at Bill. He was grinning at Gideon who looked alarmed by Bill's level of insanity. 

"The pairing will be as such; Dipper with Pacifica, " he gave her a small smile and she rolled her eyes, "and Bill with Gideon." Dipper saw Gideon visibly gulp as Bill's eye shone with excitement. 

The bell began to toll and the hall filled with the sounds of students rushing to their next class or towards their friends to gossip about the arrival of the two students. Dipper was going to take his leave as well but stopped short by the feeling of a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw the headmaster standing beside him. 

"Be careful, Dipper. I do not know what is wrong with Bill. He hasn't been himself since the start of the last trial. I worry about the safety of anyone who may be in his path. Friend or otherwise. He has no way of differentiating the two anymore." Her electric blue eyes bore into his and he felt bolts of uncertainty shoot through his body. She released Dipper with a quick nod and retreated to stand with the other professors. 

Dipper hesitantly moved away and went after Pacifica. He noticed her shock of blonde hair near Gideon's and saw that they were huddled by Robbie as they waited for the hall to empty. He approached them and plastered on a warm smile. 

"Hey, guys. Do you need someone to show you around? I can help-, " Dipper ceased his offering when he saw the group look at him with a mix of revulsion and loathing. He stopped in his tracks and was about to flee when somebody touched his shoulder. He looked over and noticed a girl with long auburn hair standing over him. She wore typical lumberjack attire, a blue plaid shirt, jeans, boots, and a fur cap to top it off. 

"Hey, Dipper, was it? I'm going to be their tour guide for now. You don't have to worry, little guy, " she pushed the end of his cap down on his face affectionately, most likely an attempt to diffuse the situation. Dipper pushed his hat back up and looked at her. She seemed to be in her early twenty's. She gave him and grin and he had to return it. He backed away before turning and disappearing into the tide of the crowded student bodies.

Dipper couldn't sleep that night. He drifted in and out of unconsciousness, often getting up to pace the room. Bill left at one point although Dipper doesn't exactly know when. Dipper stared at Bill's empty bed. 

He still hadn't given Dipper a satisfying explanation for everything that happened. He had briefly brushed over the fact that some of his more recent actions and that the book was part of the Games but not bothered to delve further. Dipper sat on the edge of Bill's bed and stared at the door leading to the hall. He would wait for Bill to return and force him to answer his questions. 

Dipper woke to warm light entering the room although it wasn't bright enough to make him consider it was daytime. Dipper realized that he wasn't laying in his bed and that hands were tangled in his hair. Dipper turned his head to look up and in doing so also noticed that his head rested in somebody's lap and that somebody was Bill. Bill stared down at Dipper and smiled when he saw he was awake. 

Dipper tried to think back to what happened last night but could only come up blank after he sat down on Bill's bed. Dipper noted that while he had sat down on the edge of the bed last night, Bill was propped up by the pillows and Dipper's feet barely hung off the bed. 

"Wondering what happened last night?" Dipper was surprised for a moment but reminded himself that Bill was a dream demon. He could read minds. 

"A little bit, yeah, " Dipper allowed a bit of sarcasm to drip into his voice but was mostly sincere. 

"Don't worry I didn't ravish you, " he added with a smirk, "yet." Dipper felt blood rush to his face and covered it with his hands as he shot upright. Bill grabbed Dipper's shoulder as he moved to sit up and pulled him back down so his head was back where it was a moment ago. He placed his arms on Dipper's chest and laced his fingers together. The heat that colored Dipper's cheeks refused to leave. 

"What time is it?" Dipper asked out of curiosity. 

"Time is only relative but it's a little before six in the morning. Why?" Dipper shrugged in response to Bill's question before moving his hands to look up at Bill's golden eye. 

"Can you tell me about Gravity Falls? Was that reality there a real one or was it just created by the school?" These questions had been bothering Dipper for quite some time. Bill looked down at his hands before taking one of Dipper's and rubbing it absentmindedly.

"It was a real reality. A parallel universe of sorts. There are many like it and this is ours. The Bill Cipher there is a demon, like I am in this universe, but he only uses his triangle form and is pretty sociopathic.

He tried to take over the world, twice, actually but failed both times. Gravity Falls has this weirdness bubble that keeps all of the monsters and such trapped inside of it. That included demons trying for world domination. There was a way to break it and I, er, he tried to torture it out of one of the greatest minds in Gravity Falls. Stanford Pines." 

"He was one of my great uncles in that universe, " Dipper thought out loud but it wouldn't have made a difference if it was internalized or not around Bill. 

"Yes. He's actually one of your great uncles in this universe but your family doesn't talk to him much. He wants to understand monsters while they just want to kill them. Spoiler alert: the professor you met when you were exploring? He's the Stanford Pines in this universe." 

"Really?" Dipper was shocked by this news. He had met his great uncle and had no idea. But now that he thought about it, they shared a striking resemblance.

"He just changed his name to not arouse suspicion. Now, back to the other Stanford. He used to work with Bill but he was actually being manipulated so Bill could get his demon friends and take over the world. He only realized this once Fiddleford, his friend that was working with him on the machine, accidentally looked through and saw Bill removing his exoskeleton to eat. Fiddleford went insane and left the project.

In an act of desperation. Stanford called up his twin, Stanley. Short story short, they fought and Standford fell through the portal and was trapped leaving behind only three journals that held all of his recordings and observations on Gravity Falls. Stanley took up his brother's name and turned his home into a tourist trap called the Mystery Shack. 

"Fast forward thirty years. Dipper and Mabel Pines get sent up to their Great Uncle Stan's for the summer. Dipper finds one of Stanford's books, Bill gets summoned and tries taking over the world again, Stanley is finally able to bring his brother back, they fight Bill and win. That's the condensed version at least. Telling the whole story would take two seasons, " Bill laughed a bit at his joke. 

"Everything that happened in Gravity Falls though wasn't me. It was a different version of me, sure, but it's not who I am, Pinetree." Dipper mulled it over for a few moments before nodding. 

"It wasn't you, " Bill breathed a sigh of relief and squeezed Dipper's hand. "Too bad we still have to fight each other." Bill nodded in agreement.

"That can wait till the sun is up, though." Dipper looked up at Bill in confusion who leaned down and brushed his lips across the birthmark of the Big Dipper on his forehead. Dipper felt a warm, pleasant feeling envelop him and drifted off into the darkness. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im sorry for old me being such a horse person. It was forced upon me from a young age  
> Also I could not keep to one pov for the life of me. I kept forgetting which person it was supposed to be in.

Dipper opened his eyes to see Pacifica standing over him. He shot up and started spewing questions. 

"Pacifica! What are you doing here? How did you get in?" She rolled her eyes in exasperation before answering.

"Through the door, obviously. I thought you were supposed to be smart." That shut Dipper up but only for a moment. He huffed in indignation before throwing the blankets back and getting out of bed. 

"Yeah, well you don't seem any brighter either, " he retorted sharply.

"I never claimed to be." Damn, she was quick. Dipper stayed quiet and moved towards the bathroom but stopped when Pacifica began to follow him. 

"What? You want to watch me change, " he smirked as her face reddened.

"Ugh, whatever. Just make it quick." She huffed and went out into the hall. He decided a shower was mandatory and after about twenty minutes he joined her. As Dipper closed the door behind him, she glared daggers and if looks could kill, he'd be sliced to pieces. 

"What took so long? I thought I told you to make it quick, " she noticed my damp hair and the daggers came back, even sharper than before. "Why'd you shower if you knew we were on a tight schedule?"

He held his hands up in defense. "I didn't know." She rolled her eyes in response.

"Also, why is everyone here a creep? Don't they have anything better to do than to just... creep?" 

"There's a game tonight so classes were canceled. Must've realized nobody would pay attention. Plus, you're here too so doesn't that make you a creep, too?" 

"Doesn't that make you a creep, too?"

"Never said I wasn't, " he smirked at the anger that flashed in her eyes. This was fun. He could tell by the amusement that shone behind her mask of aggravation that she thought so too. 

"Whatever. Let's go, " she turned and headed into the commons area which was more crowded than normal. Dipper noticed Pacifica tense at the sight of so many people and was about to wonder why but got sidetracked by trying to keep up with Pacifica. She wove in between the crowds as if it was something she had done all her life. Most people parted to let her pass and she moved by them with her head held up high. 

Dipper felt the gazes of everyone on him and inadvertently moved closer to Pacifica anxiously. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She hissed and Dipper flinched slightly. 

"I'm trying to not lose you," Dipper muttered back with a glare. 

"Well, we're almost there anyway, " Dipper looked ahead and saw that the large doors were only a few steps away. Pacifica reached the doors just before him and pulled them open then slipped through without waiting for him. Dipper followed her and noticed that the large hall was less crowded than the common area. Only about ten students were in sight, most walking to another destination while some sat writing something down or reading against the wall. 

Pacifica moved down the hall a bit before stopping by the wall and sliding down to the ground. As Dipper approached he realized how drained she seemed. He dropped down next to her with concern evident on his face. 

"What's wrong?" 

"Nothing, " she growled, "we're just sitting here." 

"Okay." 

They sat like that for a while. Then a while longer. Then a while even longer. They didn't utter another word to each other. Dipper's hands ached for a pen to write something, anything down and he regretted not bringing anything with him but to be fair he had thought they would be busy fighting stuff or running errands not... sitting. 

At one point a cat had passed by and Dipper had spent a good five minutes trying to get it to come over while it sat just out of reach. Amused by his antics until it wasn't and left. Dipper wished he could've just followed after the cat but he had a feeling that he needed to stay with Pacifica. It might have been part of the trial. 

Finally, oh dear gods, finally, the bell began to toll and Pacifica stood up. Dipper rose with her and he realized how sore his body was. His legs ached, his back ached, his neck ached. Everything ached. 

He groaned and also realized how hungry he was. Did he miss breakfast? He glanced down at the window at the end of the hall and the amount of lighting told him it was near noon, lunchtime. Did he sleep through breakfast? Possibly. 

Dipper was so tangled up in his thoughts that he almost lost Pacifica in the arriving swarm of students. He saw her bright blonde head and chased after her. He was able to catch up with her and she barely batted an eyelash. 

They moved into the great hall and sat at the end of the Dark Magic table. Everyone gave them a wide berth along with an abundant amount of stares. Once everyone was settled in, the professors gave their usual extravagant entrance and the headmaster stood to give her announcements. 

"Good evening students, " she began, "as I'm sure you all know, the final round of Sylich is tonight between our Dark and Light classes. I wish both teams the best of luck, " a large round of applause erupted but quieted down rather quickly. 

"Also, " she continued, "after lunch, I would like for Bill and Dipper along with their teammates to meet in the courtyard to complete the extra trial." At the mention of Bill's name, Dipper realized that he wasn't there this morning. He also couldn't see if he was sitting at the table. The concern disappeared, however, at the sight of food appearing on the table and he began to eat his worries away. 

After lunch, Dipper and Pacifica made their way to the courtyard. Dipper never really spent much time in it, he always just passed through it. The courtyard was a neat little circle pathway around a large pine tree with benches lining the path and smaller trees planted by the benches. The path branched off to the main part of the school, some smaller class buildings, and the stables; yes, they had stables.

As they approached, Dipper noticed Bill lounging on one of the benches while Gideon stood nervously by him, flinching at his every movement. What did he do to the kid? 

"I'm glad you all made it, " the headmaster spoke from behind them which caused Dipper to jump. She laughed a bit at his response.

"It's alright. You can calm down, " she looked evenly at each of them, "are you ready for the trial?"

She led us to the stables and they glanced warily at each other. Well, Dipper, Gideon, and Pacifica did. Bill couldn't look less bothered. She stopped at the entrance to the stables and looked at them with a grin.

"Choose your steed but make sure you choose wisely." Well, that wasn't ominous at all. Nevertheless, they stopped at each stall and glanced in at the horse inside. There were twelve stalls in total, six lining each side.

Dipper looked at the closest one to his left. It was a shiny black stallion. He got reminded of the classic literature about a black stallion and teared up a bit. Now he definitely wouldn't be able to do anything with this horse without crying. 

The next was a light grey mare who came up and pressed her nose against Dipper's hand. He chuckled and stroked her head but something told him to keep looking. 

The horse after that was an albino gelding already claimed by Pacifica. Gideon claimed the horse next to that, a tall black mare. Dipper glanced across the aisle and noticed Bill claimed a dark red stallion. 

Dipper went down to the end of the aisle and looked in the last stall since the one before it had been empty. Inside was a newborn foal, possibly only a few days old, and its mother. He definitely wouldn't be able to ride either of them. 

He moved to the stall directly across from it, empty. Same with the two next to it. Dipper walked past Bill and glanced into the stall next to that. A small gold appaloosa with a spotted white blanket on her hindquarters stared out at him. She seemed too small and young to ride so he went to the last stall. 

A black and white paint horse watched him with mismatched eyes. One was a bright blue while the other was dark brown. She seemed to glare out of the blue eye but seemed to look sweetly at him out of the brown one. He hesitated before opening the door and entering the stall. The horse seemed surprised but also like she had been expecting this. He reached out to pet her and she flinched when his fingers touched her but soon she relaxed into his hand. 

"Everyone has found their horse?" The headmaster's voice rang out. Without waiting for a response she continued, "perfect! Now tack up and meet at the Sylich field." 

They found matching tack sets in the shed next to the stables and set to cleaning up and tacking the horses. After an hour of arguing over what sets fit what horse, they were mounted and riding towards the field. 

Bill's horse was anxious to run so he let him canter ahead of the others. Gideon and Pacifica made their way at a comfortable walk while Dipper switched between trotting and walking, sometimes cantering. His horse couldn't seem to make up her mind. Eventually, he was able to get her to canter comfortably behind Bill. She rode smoothly and seemed to glide over the ground. Soon enough, too soon it seemed, they reached the Sylich field and slowed down to a walk before stopping in the center. 

The Sylich field was similar to a highschool's football field with bleachers lining the length of it and some sort of goal positioned at the ends of it. The headmaster was already waiting for them and watched as they approached. Once they were all gathered together she spoke about what they were to do. 

"Horse racing!" She grinned and seemed much more excited than any of them. 

"Oh come now, don't be so sour. I'll explain the rules. Rule one: don't harm the horses intentionally. Rule two: don't harm the horses unintentionally. Rule three: no killing. Those are the rules. Now, for the race. First, we will have the teams against each other. Next, we will set up a sort of bracket racing. Whoever wins will get a very nice reward. Understand?" Again she didn't wait for a response, "fabulous! Line up now!"

They lined up at the end of the field. They would have to run around it twice to win. They lined up so from left to right it was Dipper, Bill, Pacifica, and Gideon. Each team member would have to try and control the other team so one of them could win. Anything went. 

"Ready? Set? Go!"

Bill's horse turned into flames that didn't seem to burn him. Pacifica's horse was surrounded in snow and ice covered the ground where his hooves touched. Gideon's horse turned into a shadow and seemed to almost disappear. Everyone was so surprised that they all almost fell off their horses as they shot forward. 

Bill laughed and, after the initial shock wore off, the others picked it up as well. They rode forward together, the competition was seemingly forgotten, as they relished the feeling of the wind on their faces and the speed they traveled at. 

The horses began to turn the first corner and Dipper decided to edge on his horse that he thought was inconspicuously but nothing seemed to get past Bill. He laughed louder and chased after Dipper as they galloped forward. The flames enveloping him grew brighter as he edged his horse on to go faster. Dipper glanced back and saw Pacifica trying to stay in front of Gideon while throwing ice at him. 

Dipper wondered why his horse hadn't done anything. He kind of hoped that she would show some awesome power because Bill was now next to him and they were about to finish the first lap. Dipper leaned forward over the horse's neck and squeezed his legs tighter, trying to get more speed out. 

"Hey, if you could have some power reveal that would be nice, " he almost had to shout over the wind as he tried to talk to the horse. Congrats, you're crazy, he thought to himself. They were almost behind Bill now and reaching the first turn again. 

Suddenly, he felt his stomach drop and he saw the ground quickly receding away. He looked back and saw one large black wing and one large white wing sprouting out of the horse's back. 

"Oh, that's nice, " he chuckled as the horse flew over Bill and quickly approached the end of the race. He could hear Pacifica cheering. They crossed over the finish line, dropped back down to the ground, and slowed to a halt. The others joined him quickly and were all laughing and gushing over his horse. The headmaster came over with a smile, clearly pleased. 

"Congratulations, Mason. You did well. After a short break for the horses to relax, we will continue with the bracket races. The best of luck to all of you."

They grinned at each other before heading back to the stables to cool off the horses.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the second half of the chapter (separated by the -) there is mentions of abuse and some implied stuff so I marked the beginning and end of that scene with four astricts like so:  
> ****

They untacked, washed, fed, and watered the horses once they got back to the stables. The race seemed to take a lot out of them so some of the horses fell asleep as they hosed them off. 

Dipper sat on the ground by the side of the stables with his chin on his arms which were crossed over his knees. His eyes were closed and sweat had stuck a few strands of hair to his face. Bill sat down next to him and pushed a cold bottle of water into his hands. 

"Oh, thanks" Dipper looked over at him and gave him an awkward, but still thankful, smile. 

"For what?"

"The water." Dipper held the bottle up slightly and Bill's eyes darted towards it.

"Oh, yeah. I heroically saved you from death by dehydration." Bill sat up a little straighter as he spoke and Dipper rolled his eyes in response. He was kind of thirsty now that Bill mentioned the dehydration bit. He unscrewed the cap and chugged the water faster than he thought was possible for him.

"You're welcome" Bill smirked and Dipper smiled a little.

"The race was exciting, wasn't it?" Dipper asked suddenly, wanting to avoid an awkward silence.

"Yeah, I totally thought I was gonna beat you. Guess not though, " Bill shrugged. 

"I didn't think I was gonna win for a bit too." Dipper chuckled as he thought back to the feeling of flying.

"Got lucky?" Bill suggested.

"Yeah." Dipper nodded distractedly.

"I-" "Will-" Bill spoke at the same time Dipper did and they both fell silent to allow the other to speak. Dipper felt blood heat up his face and looked away to hide it.

"Everyone, please prepare your horses and meet at the Sylich field." The headmaster spoke up as she approached us. 

"What did you want to say?" Dipper asked Bill.

"Nothing." Bill stood and walked towards his horse which was grazing near the side of the stables.

"Oh, okay." Dipper watched him walk off with a confused look. 

"What was that?" Pacifica came up behind him and caused him to jump in surprise.

"I'm not sure, actually." Dipper glanced back at Bill who was leading his horse back to the stall.

"Oh." Pacifica's face fell and she shrugged. "Well, he's weird anyway. Let's get ready."

They walked towards their horses together and after ten minutes of retacking, they were on their way back to the field. 

"First we will have the teammates competing against each other. Just like the last race, you will need to complete two laps in order to win. We will have Bill and Gideon first then Dipper and Pacifica. The rest of the race will advance accordingly. Good luck to you all." The headmaster began directing them all as soon as they gathered around her. "Bill and Gideon, please move to the starting point." 

"I'm going to destroy you, Dipper Pines," Gideon growled as he rode past him. Dipper stared at him, his eyes were wide with surprise. Bill rode up to the starting point and waited for Gideon to come up.

"Ready? Set? Go!" The headmaster barely waited for Gideon to reach the line before beginning the race. 

Bill's horse shot off like a flaming bullet and Dipper realized how fast the horses actually traveled. It had felt pretty fast but that was nothing compared to the illuminated blur of Bill and his steed. Gideon was behind Bill and their gap became ever-increasing as the race wore on. As Dipper expected from the first step the horses took, Bill was the victor.

"What? No! This is impossible! I demand a-" Gideon protested as he crossed the line and was met with Bill staring with a relaxed but murderous look.

"Shut up, Shorty." Pacifica walked up and slapped the back of his head. "Good job, Bill," Pacifica added with a nod in his direction. Bill inclined his head in acknowledgment. 

"Bill will advance to the next bracket. Will Dipper and Pacifica, please move to the starting point." The headmaster announced. 

"Hey, ignore him." Pacifica consoled Dipper with a light touch on his arm.

"That's kind of hard but I'll try. Thanks." Dipper gave her a small smile and she returned it with one of her own.

"Ready? Set? Go!" The headmaster initiated the race and Pacifica took off.

"What are you doing?" Dipper asked his horse who had begun rearing slightly and spinning in place. After a few moments of trying to make the horse move forward, she finally complied and they took off down the length of the field. Pacifica was already approaching from behind them for a pass.

"Oh, sorry Dipper. Guess we're better after all." Pacifica called out to him as she ran ahead of him. Dipper sighed and sat back on his horse as he waited for Pacifica to finish the race. 

"What happened to you being nice?" Dipper asked her as he walked over to the group.

"Ha! Take that you insolent fiend!" Gideon howled at him.

"I think you're the insolent one," Dipper muttered under his breath and he thought he saw Bill crack a smile at his comment. 

"We will have a short ten-minute break before we proceed with the final race." The headmaster announced. 

"Hey, he's a creep anyways. Not worth your time." Pacifica spoke up after she noticed Dipper staring a little too long at Bill.

"I thought you were being mean to me?" Dipper glanced over to her with a smirk.

"Yeah. You're a creep too." Pacifica sighed and tossed her long, blonde hair over her shoulder.

"There it is." Dipper grinned. "Good luck though, " he added afterward. 

"I won't need it." Pacifica purred and walked away. 

"Okay..." Dipper murmured. He noticed Bill was still nearby so he moved over towards him. "Hey, um, what were you going to say?" Dipper asked as he approached. 

"Nothing," Bill spoke coldly. 

"Can you tell me anything or is everything supposed to be some big mystery with you?" Dipper growled, becoming annoyed with Bill's changes in attitude. 

"Shut up," Bill growled lowly. 

"Wh- did you just tell me to shut up?" Dipper stuttered, astounded that anyone would say that to his face. But... it was Bill they were talking about. He was a demon.

"Don't tell me you're deaf. If you can't hear me, read my lips. Shut. Up." Bill turned towards him and his eyes glowed red.

"I-" Dipper stammered, frightened by what Bill might do.

"Always knew you were submissive, Pinetree." Bill purred, a look of smugness and disgust plain on his face. 

"When did you become such a piece of shit? I used to-" Dipper hissed at him.

"Don't say you used to love me." Bill's eyes flashed dangerously and the venom in his voice flowed through Dipper's veins, sending a chill down his spine.

"I wasn't going to and now I'm probably never going to," Dipper spoke more to himself than Bill but that didn't prevent him from responding.

"When are you going to realize I don't care? I don't give a shit about you, Mason. So, shut up and leave me the hell alone." Bill shouted at him and Dipper shrank back.

"Why'd you save me then? Why do you keep saving me?" Dipper challenged him.

"A bit of a mistake on my part but I always love to have people owe me something; a soul, a life." Bill's eyes flashed blue when he said 'life'. 

"I thought you were a good person. I thought you were different from other demons but you're all the same." Dipper shook his head and turned to walk away.

"Trust me. I'm nothing like them. If I was, you'd be trying to keep your insides on the inside." Bill yelled after him and Dipper forced himself to continue moving away from the demon.

Dipper spent the break time in the shade of a tree by the Sylich field. He didn't bother dismounting in case they had to mount again. After what felt like far too long, the headmaster finally called for them to return to the field. 

Dipper was the first one there since the others had gone back to the stables. He watched their approach and came up with little random ideas that they could be meeting for. Maybe a war council discussing a treaty that would end in bloodshed. He was pulled out of his thoughts by the headmaster speaking once again.

"Alright, this is the final race. There will be a fun surprise for the victor of this race. The same rules apply to this race as did with the previous ones. Now, Bill and Pacifica, please make your way to the starting line." 

Dipper felt anxiety coil and twist around his stomach as Bill and Pacifica halted their horses on the starting line. He gripped the reins tightly and his horse stomped her hoof in annoyance of his tenseness. He made himself relax and began to absently stroke the horse's neck.

"Ready? Set. Go!" The headmaster allowed the race to commence and they both took off. Both horses caused dust to rise and cloud around them making it hard to see who was ahead. Dipped could make out flames, blue and red. 

Suddenly Bill pulled ahead of Pacifica and was gaining speed. They were approaching the second curve and would soon begin their final lap. Pacifica was trying to shoot ice at Bill but the flames melted the projectiles far before they reached him. 

The two racers blew past the group and Dipper felt hot and cold air whip around his body. They were side by side once again and fighting hard to be the one to cross the finish line first. 

As they moved into the corner on the far side of the field Dipper realized something was wrong. Bill's flames seemed duller than normal. Like they were being contained. Before Dipper could process what was happening, a huge flame exploded out and struck Pacifica. Dipped heard her scream and watched her fall from her horse. The creature panicked and began hopping around to avoid the body. Unfortunately, Pacifica's foot was stuck in the stirrup and she was being dragged behind the horse who finally took off in the opposite direction.

Dipper finally found that his body was able to move and he urged his horse to run after her. They tore off after the loose horse and ignored the calls of the headmaster. He saw the horse had come to a stop by the courtyard and a small crowd of students had gathered nearby. One of them was holding the horse and when he leaped off of his own and pushed through the crowd, he saw a familiar figure crouched over Pacifica. 

Mabel looked up and her eyes widened when she saw Dipper. 

"What happened?" She gasped and he shook his head. 

"The race. We were racing. She fell." He ran his fingers through his chocolaty hair and sighed heavily. "Is she okay?" 

"Yeah, she'll be fine. You should go back. We can take her to the nurse." Mabel spoke calmly and soothed Dipper. He nodded and moved back to his horse which hadn't moved. 

"Okay. Okay. You'll take care of her." 

"Yeah. It's okay." 

"Okay." Dipper mounted his horse and took the reins of Pacifica's. He turned and began making his way back to the field. He saw a figure riding towards him and realized it was Bill. He kept walking until Bill reached him and they stopped. 

"Hey, what happened? Is she okay? I didn't even notice anything." Bill sounded genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, she's fine. They're taking her to the nurse." 

"Okay." Bill seemed to notice Dipper's paleness and reached out towards him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm- no. You know what? I'm not okay. I thought I saw someone die. Why would I be okay?" 

"Oh, " Bill tried to reach for Dipper's hand but he pulled away and began to gallop back towards the field. Bill hesitated before following him. 

When Bill arrived he saw Dipper talking to the headmaster. Gideon looked as pale as Dipper was earlier. They looked up as they heard his approach and only the headmaster smiled. 

"Good. You're here. Now I can tell you about what's next."

"Next?" Dipper cut her off but she held up her hand to silence him.

"Yes, it is a tragedy what happened to Pacifica but we can't let that stop us. What comes next is a duel. The duel will be between our winners. This is your reward. Bill and Dipper will duel until one is immobilized." 

_Is she trying to kill us?_ Dipper thought incredulously. 

-

Bill and Dipper looked at each other. Dipper could see fear or something else just as prominent in his otherwise emotionless face. He couldn't fight Bill. He had battled hundreds of monsters throughout his life but that was always alongside Mabel. 

"Headmaster?" Bill spoke up. His voice was calm and laced with gentle politeness but Dipper heard something underneath the facade. It was cold manipulation of a demon. 

"Yes, Bill? Do you have a question?" The headmaster asked him but he shook his head and waved his hand as if swatting away an invisible fly. 

"No, no. Nevermind me. It was a silly thought. Please, continue," he admitted with false humility. 

"No, if you have a question or concern feel free to voice it." 

"Oh alright, " he gave a shy smile, "I was wondering if we would have to fight until one is incapacitated for a certain amount of time?" 

"Yes, if one of you is unable to make a move for ten seconds then the duel will end and the other will be the victor." 

"Lovely, thank you." Dipper felt cold rush down his spine as he saw an almost predatory look take over his features. 

"The fight will commence tomorrow morning before daybreak. Please meet out here before then. Supplies will be provided. As Bill brought up, ten seconds of incapacitation will bring the duel to a close, " the headmaster instructed them. "You are dismissed."

They turned their horses towards the stables but Dipper hesitated before moving. He turned his horse away from where the stables stood and began walking. After a few steps, he edged his horse into a trot, then canter, then they were flying off of the ground as his horse expanded her wings and took off to the sky. Dipper hadn't been expecting that but didn't mind as they gained altitude. He had to clear his head. 

He breathed in the cool air and looked down at the campus below. The horse stayed within the boundaries of the school and he wondered if they could leave if they wanted. He shook his head. Not without Mabel. He can't take off and abandon her. 

He needed more of a distraction so he set the horse into a steep dive. She obeyed and tucked her wings close to her body as they plummeted towards the ground. He wondered what would happen if he just let go or if they just didn't pull up but the horse was experiencing different thoughts and pulled out of the dive just before they hit the ground. He felt her hooves crashing into the ground as she picked up speed and pulled back up into the sky. 

He allowed the horse to spin through the air and do all sorts of aerial acrobatics. He kept his grip lax as they dived and flipped but he barely budged out of the saddle. He wondered if the saddles were designed to adjust to every horse. They were truly one size fits all. 

Dipper didn't return to the stables until the sun was beginning to set. It had been just after noon when the headmaster announced that he would be fighting Bill. Both he and the horse were drenched with sweat from being in the sun all day and the exertion that came with both riding and being ridden. 

He was about to pull off the saddle when he saw a shadow move out of one of the stalls. He glanced out of the one he was in and saw Bill rubbing his eye. His stomach twisted violently. Bill moved his hand away from his face and looked at Dipper. He seemed surprised for a second before grinning as one might if they see a friend that they haven't talked to in a while. Dipper tugged off the saddle and moved out of the stall. 

"Pinetree! I was waiting for you. Where'd you go?" 

"I flew around for a bit. Why were you waiting for me?" Dipper didn't stop to talk to Bill and he trailed after him. 

"Is that heavy? Do you want me to take it?" Bill asked suddenly and moved to his side. Dipper glanced over at him. He hadn't seen Bill this nice since the first days he had been here. He seemed like the roommate that had cared for him after his nightmares and teased him. 

"No, I got it." This response got an eyebrow raise from Bill but he didn't argue. The saddles weren't that heavy just awkward to carry with the saddle pad. 

"Okay. I was waiting because I wanted to talk to you." Like that wasn't obvious by how he greeted him. Dipper stayed silent and nodded for Bill to continue. 

They were nearing the door of the shed where the tack was kept now. Bill rushed forward and pulled the door open for Dipper. He gave him a questioning glance as he walked in but still stayed silent. 

"I wanted to apologize for how I've been acting for the past few days, " Bill began speaking as Dipper placed the saddle and pad onto the holder.

"I- I don't know how to describe it but I haven't been wanting to act like that, " he began, "it's like something is forcing me to say and act a certain way no matter how I feel. It's strange and you probably don't believe me but... I guess there's nothing I can do to make you believe me considering now I'm acting like myself again." Bill looked at Dipper who wasn't sure of what to do. 

Dipper stared at him for a moment before moving past him and out the door. He realized Bill hadn't followed him like he hoped he would. It seems that Bill wasn't fully back yet. He kept walking until he came back to his horse's stall. 

He glanced inside and was surprised to see that she was already washed. Her coat gleamed as the remaining water dried and her wings were preened and groomed until each individual strand on every feather was perfect. Even her stall had been cleaned. 

Dipper turned to see Bill covered in wet dirt. He was panting and his face was red from exertion. He did this? 

"Pinetree, please believe me. You have to trust me. I never want to see you hurt." Bill took a step towards Dipper but he stepped back and he saw the hurt flash in Bill's eyes. 

"If you want me to believe you, " he began slowly, "prove to me you're yourself during the duel. Until then, don't talk to me. That should be easy enough considering that's what you've done for the past week." 

Dipper left the stables and made his way back to the dorm. He had spent some nights sleeping in the common room but most recently he began sleeping in the dormitory again. He always felt the need to go to wherever Bill was due to the deal they made when he first got here but it had seemed to fade. Now, it felt like a hook caught in his stomach trying to pull him back to Bill. He ignored it and kept walking. 

He reached the dorm by nautical twilight. The sky was a purple-blue but pink by the horizon and stars were already beginning to appear. The astronomy students had demanded that the school use as little light as possible at night so the stars could cover the sky. Dipper was thankful that their demands were met because after the sun sank below the horizon, the night sky became a beautiful shining and glowing cluttered map. 

He sat in the window and stared at the sky, watching the colors of the sky darken to a blue-black. The stars were bright tonight and he wondered how many of them were dead as they seemed to slowly glide along their path above him. He noticed Mars was almost set now and watched the red planet as it sunk lower and lower in the sky. 

His eyes followed the spiraling arms of the galaxy that seemed to wrap around the planet after Mars had disappeared from his sight. 

He got pulled out of his trance by the sound of the door to the room opening then closing. He turned around with a glare, ready to yell at Bill but it wasn't Bill standing there. It was Pacifica and Mable. 

"Oh, hey, you're fine." Dipper stood and walked over to them. 

"Yeah, Mabel helped a little." Pacifica shrugged and Dipper noticed a bandage wrapped around her head. 

"We came because we heard what's going to happen tomorrow, " Mabel admitted. "Dipper, you can't do it. I won't allow it."

Dipper stared at her. Her words had brought a war to his emotions. On one side, she just wanted what was best for him and he should accept that. On the other, Mabel had been with Dipper their whole lives. She had seen how many monsters he had fought and survived doing it. He had been through more than she knows and he needs to prove to her and to himself that he's not a weak little kid that will give up at the first sign of trouble. He won't do that. 

"No, Mabel. I'm not forfeiting. I'm fighting Bill in the morning and you can either watch or not. Your choice." Mabel watched him with a look of disbelief. He pushed past them and left. As he walked through the commons he could hear Mabel and Pacifica coming out to trail after him but he didn't acknowledge them. 

He walked through the school and then left the building. He realized that he wasn't heading towards the stables but rather towards the nearby woods. Mosquitoes and other bugs buzzed and bit at him. He swatted at them occasionally but they persisted. He sighed and kept walking. 

The familiarity of nighttime brought memories back to Dipper of trips gone bad with Mabel. Sometimes he would have to explore solo. His thoughts had a particularly painful memory resurface. 

The sun had already set when Dipper heard the first howl. He froze and listened as another howl joined in, closer this time. The woods fell silent. Not even a cicada screamed their horrendous songs. The only noise came from the mosquitoes buzzing in his ears but soon enough even they were quiet. 

Dipper steeled himself and continued moving forward, his grip tight on the gun he held pointed to the ground. A branch snapped and he jumped into the air, whirling around to aim at a deer. The doe stared at him before bounding off into the night. 

He sighed and turned around to see glaring teeth and a menacing growl. He stumbled backward and tripped over his own feet, landing in the dirt. A sharp burn in his leg alerted him that he must've scraped it on a branch in his fall. He scrambled backward as the werewolf slowly walked up to him. 

He heard another growl behind him and saw three other glowing sets of yellow eyes appear out of the darkness. His heart thundered in his ears as blood rushed through his body. He didn't doubt that the monsters could hear and smell his fear. 

A glint of silver caught his attention and he looked to see that the gun was still in his hand. He held it up, his hold surprisingly steady, and aimed it at the werewolf in front of him briefly before firing. The monster collapsed and the others rushed at him. 

They pounced on him and he tried to pull the gun to a place to hit them but they pinned down his arm as they tore in with sharp claws. Fiery pain flowed through his veins and he fought against the weight piled on top of him. Somehow he was able to fire the gun and the bullet passed through one of the wolf's legs. The monster howled in pain and fury while writhing on the ground. It stilled after a while and the remaining three continued to tear into him with a new vengeance. 

He fired off a shot again and it inexplicably found its mark in a third werewolf. It screamed when the bullet passed through its chest and collapsed to the ground, dead. His ears rang from the sound of the shots and his body burned. His vision became a blur of moving figures. He could make out that the remaining werewolves were fleeing. He raised the gun and fired off a final shot before pain exploded in the back of his skull and his vision went black. 

Dipper woke up to the sound of birds cheerily chirping and sunlight falling onto his face. He sat up painfully and looked around at the dead bodies. His throat clenched and he turned quickly and vomited. He dry heaved for a moment longer before taking in a deep breath of air and leaning forward to stand up. 

His muscles and skin burned from a thousand cuts. He worried that he would have to rid the bodies but decided that since he wasn't supplied with a shovel or matches that Dean and the others would take care of it. 

He stumbled through the forest before he broke out of the woods and saw a town up ahead. There was a motel nearby and he assumed that was where they would be. He made his way to the small housing building and after what seemed to him like hours but couldn't have been more than ten minutes, he reached the lobby room of the motel. 

A few people gave him a few stares but must've shrugged him off as some drug addict after a bad trade. He moved to the receptionist counter and leaned on it to rest but quickly pulled back with a hiss of pain once his cuts made contact with the dark plywood shelf. 

A woman emerged from a white windowed door with blinds drawn behind the counter. She gave him a look with worry in her bright blue eyes. 

"Can I help you?" She spoke kindly.

"Did anyone check in recently? A family with a girl my age that looks like me?" Dipper asked her trying to not cause too much suspicion. 

"Um, no. Nobody by that description came in recently. Why? Are they family? Do you know them?" 

"Oh, " disappointment became clear on the boy's face. "Nevermind I must've gotten the address wrong. Excuse me." 

Before he could leave, the receptionist stopped him. "Why don't you clean up first and then you can go, that sound good?" He shrugged and she motioned for him to follow as she led him to a nearby room and opened it for him.

"Here, go in and clean up. There's alcohol underneath the sink, don't drink it." Dipper nodded his thanks and slipped into the room. She shut the door behind him and after locking it and checking the room he stripped off his clothes. He saw that there were small scratches covering most of the front of his body with deeper cuts on his arms. Most of them had blood dried over them but some of the deeper ones had blood still flowing from it. He turned on the water of the shower and stepped in, biting his tongue as he did so. 

As expected, pain flared all across his body and he took in a sharp intake of breath. The water turned brown-red as it flowed into the drain. He stood under the water until it cleared up before he reached for some soap and scrubbed the remaining dirt and blood off of his skin. His body was becoming used to the pressure and the pain dulled down. 

He shut off the flow of water and grabbed a towel before stepping out of the shower. He dried off as much as possible before grabbing the alcohol. He moved back into the shower and opened the bottle. He clenched his teeth and dumped the continents down his front.

Despite his not wanting to, he screamed. The chemical bubbled as it reacted to the enzymes in his body and killed off the bacteria. He shut his mouth and groaned as his skin felt like it sizzled off of his body. Once the burning lessened, he turned on the water and washed off the remaining amounts of the alcohol. He hissed as the water washed over his injuries and shut it off as soon as the last of the blood swirled down the drain. He stepped out once more and wrapped the towel around himself. 

A few minutes later, he was bandaged and sitting on the bed as he contemplated what to do next. His thoughts were interrupted by a pounding on his door followed by a feminine voice yelling for somebody to calm down. Dipper didn't recognize the voice of the person who spoke next. 

_******** _

"I am calm. Dipper! Come out!" A man shouted from the other side of the door. Dipper slowly rose from the bed and crept towards the door. He jumped as the pounding resumed. He rushed forward and pulled open the door. 

The man stared at him from across the boundary separating the tile floor from the concrete outside. His face grew a false friendly grin.

"Dipper, why did you leave? Your family's worried and they sent me to get you." He spoke softly and the receptionist studied him with worried eyes. He seemed to finally notice the bandages and he seemed genuinely surprised. "What happened?" he asked as he tried to reach for him but Dipper moved out of his reach.

"Here, let's go home and get that taken care of." He grabbed Dipper's arm, his fingers digging in slightly and pulled him to a brown truck parked nearby.

"Thanks for the help, " he called to the receptionist over his shoulder, "feel free to call me so I can make it up, " he added with a wink as he climbed into the car. 

Dipper stood outside the truck, his eyes darting between the receptionist and the machine. Suddenly the door swung open and the man stared down at him. "Get in already, " he growled and Dipper obeyed, fear gripping his chest. 

He closed the door once he sat down and buckled the seatbelt around his body. The man turned the ignition and the truck roared to life before he quickly pulled out of the parking lot and began speeding down the road. Instead of heading towards the town like he expected the man to do, he went the opposite direction. 

"Shouldn't we head into town?" Dipper asked quietly. The man didn't respond but rather pushed down the gas pedal a little further. Dipper sat back in his seat and chewed his lip nervously. 

After driving for a while, they reached a run-down shack in the middle of a field. Dipper decided that they might have gotten another job at this location and began looking for anything familiar. But it was nowhere to be found. 

"Where's my parents? Or Grunkle Stan and Ford?" Dipper spoke mostly to himself but the man chuckled. 

"They ain't coming, " the man laughed and Dipper whirled around to see a first coming down to his face. The world went dark. 

Dipper began having flashes of experiences come before him. Him, waking up in chains, shirtless inside of the shack. The man coming and beating down on him. Other people came too. They did other things and he tried to fight them off but they just laughed and pummeled him more After what seemed like years, but must have been only a few days, the door came crashing down and his family rushed in. Mabel came to him first and after a brilliant light shone, everything faded into darkness. 

_******** _

"Dipper, " he heard and looked around in the darkness but saw nobody there. 

"Dipper, " the voice repeated. "Pinetree!" It shouted and light flooded into his sight. 

Dipper sat up quickly and looked around. Bill was crouched over him, a worried look on his features. 

"What happened, Pinetree?" Bill asked and pushed some stray hairs off of Dipper's forehead. Dipper stood up and looked at the grey light of dawn. 

"Nothing. I was just having a dream. That's all." Dipper pushed Bill out of his way and stumbled past him. 

"Let's go fight." 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really loved angst as you can see

Dipper was waiting in the middle of the field once Bill finally arrived at the field. Bill tried to make eye contact but Dipper quickly averted his gaze and stared at a blade of grass resting on his shoe. 

The headmaster approached Bill and instructed him to move to one end of the Sylich field while Dipper moved to the other. They faced each other and the distance between them seemed like miles to Bill but only a few inches to Dipper. The headmaster moved to stand off to the side, equal distance from both of them. 

"The rules are simple. We will bring out weapons and whatever you request. The fight will end once one is immobilized or forfeits. No killing. Understand?" They both nodded solemnly. "Good. Here are the weapons, take your pick." 

Two large carts followed by a large wall on wheels were pushed out into the center of the field and Dipper didn't even wait for them to stop moving before heading towards them. Bill quickly followed after him. 

The weapons consisted of different kinds of guns, maces, lances, bows and arrows, and all other sorts of nasty things humans created with the intent of killing one thing or another. Dipper picked up a gun and a handful of bullets engraved with something Bill couldn't make out. He studied the bullets for a moment before moving towards the headmaster and talking with her in hushed voices before she led him to another box of bullets. She seemed to explain something before he nodded and loaded the bullets she showed him into the chamber. 

Something in the back of Bill's mind warned him that he had seen those bullets before. Some time that had been full of pain. He brushed it off and gazed at the weapons before him. Not one of them suited his tastes so he settled for just magic. 

Dipper and Bill moved back to their places at the ends of the field. A moment later the carts were wheeled away and the headmaster moved back to her spot along the side of the field. 

"Are you ready?" A nod from both of them. "Alright. Remember the rules. Ready? Let the fight begin!" 

Neither one of them moved. Bill stared at Dipper and clenched his fist while Dipper stared down at the gun he held in his grip. 

"Dipper, " Bill called out suddenly, "we don't have to fight. Let's just go back to the dormitory." 

"The fight is required." The headmaster interjected. 

"Alright, well, I forfeit." Bill threw his hands up in exasperated surrender.

"Not until one of you gets at least one hit in." 

Bill became conscious of Dipper quickly pulling up the gun and it firing all within the same moment. Bill saw the projectile flying through the air as it crossed the field. He stood, frozen until the pain hit him. He yelled and gripped the wound in his shoulder as the flesh around it burned. Now he remembered what kind of bullets Dipper had. Demon killing bullets. 

Luckily that shot wasn't lethal. Most likely on purpose. Bill looked up and saw through blurry vision that Dipper slowly making his way towards him. Bill carefully rose to his feet and waited for Dipper's imminent arrival. The wound in his shoulder had already ceased its bleeding but he couldn't do much else until the bullet was removed. 

Bill's thoughts were scattered like frightened birds or brain matter by another bullet hitting his knee. The leg immediately collapsed from under him and he fell with a groan that turned into a slight laugh. 

"Ahhaha, that hurt, " he hissed with a grin to Dipper. "Do it better next time." Another shot ripped through his other shoulder and he groaned. 

"Not good enough, Pinetree!" His other knee was hit next. A moment later Dipper was standing over him with the gun held to his head. 

"Mason... do not fire with intent to kill." The headmaster warned him but Dipper didn't give any sign that he had heard. Dipper moved the gun away and before Bill could say anything, his fist came down and collided with the side of his face. 

"Ow, so abusive." Bill spat out the blood that began to fill his mouth. Dipper punched him again and Bill's jaw slammed shut and his teeth sunk painfully into his tongue. 

"Shut up, " Dipper growled. Dipper grabbed Bill's shoulder and pushed his thumb into the wound. Bill hissed and glared at him. 

"Who are you?" Dipper questioned him.

"Thought you wanted me to shut up?" 

"Answer the question." His thumb dug in further.

"I'm Bill. Bill Cipher. Your lord and master for all of eternity." Dipper's thumb plunged even deeper into the hole in his shoulder and began to move around until he pulled it back out and a glint of silver caught his eye as something fell to the ground. 

"What was that?" Bill asked. 

"The bullet, " Dipper explained in a low voice as he moved his hand down to Bill's knee and repeated the process of sticking his thumb and forefinger into the wound. Dipper continued before Bill could ask anything, "you know what you said about being controlled? Well, I didn't believe you." 

"Yeah, I could tell that much." Bill quipped and Dipper rolled his eyes. 

"What I was going to say is, I didn't believe you fully until now. I have a theory about who's behind the controlling. I think it's the headmaster. Also, how many bullets are in you?"

"There's only two left but wow, plot twist much? Anyways, are you my knight in shining armour who's come to save me?" 

"What? No. But save you from what exactly? You don't look like you need much saving right now."

"I don't know, " Bill shrugged right before Dipper extracted the bullet from his leg. "Myself?" He suggested. 

Dipper paused and looked at him. "That's depressing."

"Yeah, that was a lot more depressing than I thought it was going to be. Sorry." 

"It's fine. But we need to figure out how to deal with Ms. Corrupted over there." Dipper pulled the final bullet out. 

"Do you have a plan?"

"Honestly, " Dipper sat back on his heels, "I have no idea."

"Well, that's helpful." Dipper glared at him. "Just stating the obvious. Don't kill me for it. Anyways, go ahead and pummel into me for a bit longer. I should be good as new in about two minutes." Dipper looked closer and could already see that Bill's face was healed and the flesh under his clothes was already mending back together. 

"Okay, I can get some aggression out." Dipper shook out his fist before bringing it back and swinging it at Bill. Bill dodged it and grabbed Dipper's arm. 

"I was just kidding!"

"I thought you liked pain!"

"Only in kinky ways!" Dipper's face turned an alarming shade of red and tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

"Why would you say that?" He choked out, trying and failing horribly to keep back the laughter that threatened to erupt.

"Shut up." Bill laughed and Dipper collapsed forward, wheezing from the hilarity of their situation. 

"Are you healed yet? We probably don't have much time to attack her now." 

Bill rolled his shoulders and rubbed them. "I'm always ready to attack someone. Let's go." 

With that, they jumped up and turned to face the headmaster who stared back at them with a small smile about her lips. 

"I suppose you've finally solved the mystery, haven't you?" She called out as they approached.

"Yeah, cause we're smart unlike you, dumb bitch." Bill taunted her once they came to a stop a reasonable distance away. 

"Yes, you two were indeed intelligent but I had always intended for you to solve that so the experiment could come to the perfect conclusion." 

"What do you mean?" Dipper asked before Bill could insult her further.

"Everything that has happened so far has all been according to plan. And the way that everything will end is with everyone dead. I had originally wanted to just kill the four of you but why stop there? I'll burn the entire school down and start new." 

"Why? What do you get from it?" 

"Let me explain, Mason. A few years ago, I loved this school. I loved being a part of the staff. I especially loved the Winter Games. So of course, I was ecstatic when my sister was chosen to compete. The thing is, she died. And nobody care. They mourned, sure, but not a single one of them considered changing the Games so another death wouldn't happen.

"I decided to become headmaster and change it myself. I finally got the position last year but nobody allowed any changes to be made to the Winter Games so I decided, 'if they won't listen to one death, how about twenty?' Now I'm not going to kill twenty students. I'm not a monster. I'm going to kill all of them. Starting with you two." 

The headmaster suddenly drew a gun and aimed it at Dipper. Bill growled and his eye glowed a threatening red. 

"Make a move, Cipher, and see what happens." 

"Don't move, Bill." Dipper turned his head to look at him. His eyes were full of anxiety-fueled tears. "Don't move." 

"Yes, listen to him. At least for now. Soon you won't be able to speak or listen." She aimed the gun at Dipper's head and he shut his eyes out of instinct once she pulled the trigger.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuckin Matrix ass shit from now on

"No!" Bill roared and the red flames erupted towards the headmaster. The flames diverted around her and she sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose. 

"I thought I told you to not move?" The flames died around her and Bill stared at her, absolutely pissed. She raised the gun at him and aimed for his head. 

"I sure hope this works, " she sighed before firing the gun. 

***

Dipper opened his eyes and looked around. He laid in a completely white environment. He couldn't tell if it ended right in front of him or went on forever. There was no variation in the shading of the white expanse. Everything seemed to glow slightly and when he looked down he realized there was no shadow anywhere near his body. 

"That's not good, " he spoke out loud, startled by the sound of his voice. He flinched at the surprising volume of his words. It didn't seem to echo but sounded more like he had yelled directly into his own ear. 

He looked around once more and at first, he thought nothing had changed but upon closer inspection, he realized that there was a shadow in the distance. He took off towards it, hoping it would provide some clue to where he was at. 

As he moved towards it, the scene around him began to change. Colors began appearing in seemingly random splashes. He began to hear voices and strange noises echoing around him. For some reason he couldn't explain, he felt that he was running out of time. He needed to reach that shadow before it was too late. 

He began to pump his arms faster and pushed himself to speed up. However, the faster he went, the further the shadow seemed to be. It was almost taunting him. Daring him to try and reach it. Suddenly the light around him blazed, blinding him and forcing him to stop. He felt himself falling. He stopped abruptly and his eyes jerked open. 

He was in the medical wing. 

Memories of what happened the last time he was in there came flooding back and he panicked momentarily. He got himself to relax after a moment and looked around again. Nobody seemed to be there. 

He froze once again. The school seemed fine for now but what had happened? Why isn't he dead? Where is everyone? Where's the headmaster? Where's Bill? 

The last question sent him scrambling off of the bed. He ignored the thumping pain in his head and rushed towards the door. He threw it open and his heart stopped. 

It was a maze.

Corridors stemmed out from the main path which ended far in the distance. The walls were made of the same stone as the school and seemed to stretch up to meet the night sky. Night sky? How long had he been out? 

Questions raced through his head but he knew he would have to wait to even try answering them. Now he had to deal with the problem in front of him. The maze. He momentarily wondered if the others were in the maze. No doubt it was the headmaster's fault. But she had planned to kill them. It couldn't have backfired?

He sighed and shook his head. No questions right now. He needed to focus. He forced the questions to the back of his mind and began to make his way forward. 

It only took a few steps to reach the first branch. It was to the left of him and ended quickly with no further branching. 

He continued on his way, pausing at every new path to see if it was traversable. Many of them had only four to five more branches while others either had none or twenty. There seemed to be no pattern to any of it. He was beginning to become frustrated when his mind reminded him of an old legend. The one that said to keep your right hand on a wall of a maze. He knew it was just a myth but it couldn't hurt to try. 

He moved to the wall and placed his right hand on it and began to follow it through the maze. He thought it would actually work, this way he had made more progress than before. He had a chance of getting out. Soon he recognized a set of doors up ahead. He abandoned the wall and raced towards it. Finally, he could get out of this damn maze. He came up to the door and ripped it open.

It led to the hospital wing. Right where he had started. It was still abandoned. He yelled in frustration. It wasn't supposed to end this way. With him stuck in some fucking labyrinth. 

He groaned and gathered his thoughts. Acting out would accomplish nothing. Just make things worse. He decided that maybe he could go to the other side of the wing. Explore it. Look for some clues. 

He made his way into the room and glanced at each cot as he passed. They were all clean and organized. He paused. All of them. Even the one he had lain in earlier. This information gave him new hope but anxieties still prickled at the back of his mind. He shouldn't despair though. 

He continued his way down, taking mental note of the smallest details. He noticed a small group of scratches by the base of the wall. He moved closer to them and inspected it. It seemed to be some sort of code or maybe it could just be nonsense. It read:

_Jvyypkvy adv, jvyypkvy mvby, jvyypkvy vul, jvyypkvy alu, mpuk tl, Wpulayll_

Dipper had no idea what it meant. It seemed like gibberish. He was about to walk away when something caught his eye. A piece of paper. He picked it up and examined it. 

_Caesar_

_-Cipher_

Oh, now it was clear. It was a cipher. More specifically, the Caesar cipher. Dipper looked back at the words on the wall and studied them a bit more. Now they made sense and weren't just random letters. They were directions. 

_Corridor two, corridor four, corridor one, corridor ten, find me, Pinetree_

It was instructions from Bill. He was alive. Dipper's heart soared. They might have a chance at defeating the headmaster. He hurriedly got up and ran back out into the maze. He chanted the directions in his head as he ran. Two, four, one, ten. 

He panted as he counted up to the tenth corridor. He was almost there. Almost there. There. He turned down the branch and followed it. It seemed to stretch forever but he didn't stop. He couldn't now. Not when he was so close. A door appeared ahead of him. A different one. 

He launched himself at it. Bursting through to the other side. He looked around and didn't see anybody. He was about to walk into the room when his eyes were drawn to something on the floor. He looked closer at it.

It was a body. Covered in blood.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok final stretch here I think

The body wasn't Bill. Neither was it the headmaster. It wasn't anybody Dipper knew. It seemed to be a kid. They were dressed in a school uniform and the emblem of the school was ripped off but Dipper had a feeling that the kid was a student here. He hadn't seen any uniforms but it wouldn't surprise him if there had been some in the past. 

Maybe the body was an old student. Or a long-dead body that was sickeningly well preserved. So well preserved that if the skin wasn't so grey that Dipper could've sworn that they could jump up at any time. 

Dipper shook off the uneasy feeling creeping up his spine and looked around the room. It was circular, lined with dark stained wood and had a dome ceiling. There was a door across from where he stood in front of him and the door from which he entered laid behind. 

He edged around the body carefully as he moved towards the door ahead of him. Dipper avoided staring at it for longer than necessary. When he reached the dark polished door and pulled on the bronze handle to open it; he risked a look back at the body. It was gone. 

The room showed no trace of anyone ever being there other than him. The dark wooden floor where the body had once been lying on was cleaned and polished. He felt a cold shiver down his spine before he spun back around and flung open the door, barely hesitating before flinging himself through. 

The door led to the top of a hill overlooking a body of clear, greenish water- possibly a lake- with a thick pine forest leading to a grey mountain that stood over everything. Clouds gathered overhead, on the brink of threatening. 

Dipper spun around but saw no sign of the door he entered through ever being there in the first place. In its stead were bushes and trees such as the ones that were near the water. Dipper sighed and turned back around before making his way down towards the lake. 

The trip was short and as he walked on the bank, he could see that the water stretched out to the horizon making it seem more like an ocean rather than lake but up close he could tell that it was indeed a lake. As Dipper walked, he scanned the forest. He came to an abrupt stop when he spotted a hidden path winding deep into the woods. Deciding that he had nothing else to follow, he turned and started down it. 

The trees began to grow closer together the further he went, eventually completely blocking out the still grey sky and plunging him into green-tinted shadows. He felt like he had walked forever, but actually barely more than a half-mile when the trees suddenly thinned out and the path deposited him in a small clearing. There was nothing except for a large dome-shaped greenhouse. The light that broke through the cloud covering glinted off of the glass as he approached the door. 

He went up a short set of concrete stairs before pulling on the glass door to discover it was unlocked. He was deposited into a small foyer that had a little metal table covered with dirty gloves and gardening tools. The door shut behind him just as lighting and thunder erupted and the clouds released the rain. 

The downpour deafened him from the sounds of the water slamming into the glass. He ducked his head down and rushed through the metal door leading to the rest of the greenhouse, hoping for some relief. As the door fell shut behind him, Dipper could already tell how much more muffled the rain was. He scanned the room that seemed much larger now that he was inside it and noticed small brick paths weaving around sections of dirt filled with different plants. 

He moved deeper into the house, pushing aside flowers and leaves as he weaved through the maze of vegetation. Some reached taller than him and others were just sprouts.

He was pushing a large leaf out of his way when he saw a bright shock of yellow out the corner of his eye. He spun around, eyes searching through the green in quick, darting motions.

"Bill?" he called out, weary of it being a trap. He pivoted slowly, hoping for Bill to come through the bushes with a stupid smile- for him to wake up and see Bill safe and in their room. He was willing to forgive everything if it meant he could see Bill again. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of somebody calling out.

"Pinetree? Where are you?" Dipper's heart lept into his throat, threatening to choke him. It was Bill. He was still alive. 

"Bill! I'm over here!" He began to head towards the sound of his voice. 

"I don't know where 'here' is, Pinetree." Dipper could imagine Bill's eye rolling and he couldn't help but smile. 

"Just head towards my voice, smartass." 

"Ah, yes. What a wonderfully brilliant idea. I never would have thought of it myself, Pinetree." Bill's voice came from someplace closer. 

"Shut it, Bill," Dipper growled but the smile didn't fade from his features.

"If you say so, " a female voice piped up from behind him. Dipper spun around and was faced with the headmaster holding a handgun to Bill's head.

Bill was struggling; not enough to get him shot but enough to make the headmaster's grip looser. Dipper could feel his frustration radiating off of him. He just wanted everything to be over. 

"Let him go, " Dipper demanded in a low voice. "Let him go and leave us be." 

"I don't think so. I think I'll burn this school right now. The stupid thing kept you two alive for now but I'll kill it. I hate it and everything it stands for." As she talked, she brought out a box of matches by moving her gun to the hand around Bill's shoulders and reaching with her, now free, hand.

"I don't think that's gonna happen, lady," Bill purred and they turned to him in surprise. He grinned, a maniacal one, full of fury and glee. "It's fighting back, " he whispered before taking advantage of the headmaster's moment of alarm to slip out of her grip and steal the gun away from her. 

Bill moved towards Dipper's side with the gun pointed at the headmaster. Her electric blue eyes sparked with anger but also pride. Bill reached Dipper and quickly took his hand. Dipper didn't pull away but rather squeezed it, reassuring himself more than Bill.

"Been a while, Pinetree, " Bill grinned at him. 

"It hasn't been that long." 

"It's been forever since you've looked at me like that though." 

Dipper looked up at him in confusion, "what do you mean?"

"Since you've looked at me like I'm not the scum of the earth." Dipper tried thinking of a reply but his mind turned up blank. 

"You're not scum, " he decided. 

"There was a time where you'd disagree. But now is not the time for that. Now is time for us to get rid of this traitor bitch." 

Before Dipper could do anything, a shot rang out. He saw the headmaster collapse. Red splattered the leaves behind where her head once was and blood pooled around her body on the ground. A neat hole rested in between her eyes. 

"We- we didn't, " Dipper's voice cracked and he tried again. "We didn't have to kill her." Bill turned and looked down at Dipper. Realization and regret filled his eye. 

"Shit. I'm sorry." Bill took Dipper's shoulders and turned him away from the body but the image was already burned into his mind. "Sorry, I should have made you look away or something. But she had to die or we would be dead." 

Dipper wanted to push Bill away but he didn't, he had done that too much already. "I'm not inexperienced to dead bodies. Let's, just- let's go." Dipper began to weave through the plants, Bill trailing after him- their hands still intertwined. 

When they reached the door, Dipper expected it to open back to the clearing but it didn't. He opened it and they found themselves back in their dorm. Dipper didn't realize how much relief one dark room could bring. 

He stumbled towards his bed and collapsed upon it. He rolled onto his back and gazed up at the ceiling. His view was interrupted by Bill staring down at him. 

"Tell me everything when you wake up, " Bill murmured softly and Dipper felt his eyes slip shut while Bill rubbed his hands gently. He felt his fingers trailing over his skin, leaving tingly, invisible patterns. He felt Bill begin repeating a pattern and it Dipper didn't decipher it until he had already slipped into unconsciousness. 

_I love you._


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw I changed the Headmistress's name in the update but I didn't feel like fixing it rn. It's low-key a code.  
> Fuck it, I fixed it. The other is the same bc I do not care

Dipper woke up slowly, sleep still clinging to him and trying to pull him back under the sheets. He forced it away and opened his eyes to dim light. He glanced at the window and saw black curtains had been drawn to cover the small nook; bright light escaped from the edge of the curtains and filtered through them. But when did they have curtains? Dipper shook the confusion off and glanced around the room. There was no sign of Bill. 

He sighed and threw the blankets back, moving his legs to dangle off the side of the bed. He stretched before moving into the bathroom and taking a quick shower. 

When Dipper emerged, fully dressed, he saw Bill perched in the window seat, blinds drawn back. He looked up upon his arrival and gave him a smile. 

"Oh, look. You didn't abandon me in the middle of the night after I saved your life. Good for you, " Bill spoke up- closing the book and placing it next to him- with a playful tone. 

"Yeah..." Dipper moved over towards him and sat down on his own bed. Bill got up and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hungry?" Before Dipper could respond, he teleported them to the dining room. Dipper sighed once they arrived, not bothering to argue with Bill's methods of transportation.

They took their normal seats and Dipper noticed that nobody seemed to shrink away from them. Perhaps their performance has garnered trust from the other students? 

Dipper looked up to watch the doors opened together for the staff entrance, curious about what would happen. The normal staff lined the room, about twenty in all, and the doors merged together. Dipper was randomly reminded that he had never bothered to learn the names of the professors. Not even the headmaster. 

"She was Headmaster Cathy Grenshaw, " Bill explained, leaning over to whisper into his ear. "I can tell you the others' names if you want." 

Dipper jumped, glaring at Bill. 

"I can learn them myself." 

"Suit yourself, " Bill shrugged, leaning away. 

Their attention was stolen by the sound of a cane hitting the floor. They looked up to see two figures entering the room. The lead professor and headmaster, whoever that may be.

Dipper and Bill were surprised to see a tall man walking with the lead professor. The man had snowy hair flipped to almost cover his left eye, ending right above it. Stubble covered his chin and jaw but was trimmed meticulously. He wore a dark blue three-piece suit with a white undershirt and green tie. A black coat with detailed silver embroidery hung off his shoulders. Piercing steel eyes studied the students, who watched him pass in awe. 

The sound of his cane and steps echoed around the room, seemingly deafening in the silence. A noise similar to a dog walking on tile joined the disturbance and Dipper looked to see a grey wolf trailing behind the mysterious man. 

"Who the hell is this dude?" Dipper muttered.

"Apparently he's Dawntra Butwo, " Bill whispered.

"What the hell kind of name is that?" Dipper spoke incredulously. Bill only shrugged in response. 

They looked up and watched the man stand where Headmaster Dotruneh once had when she gave speeches. The wolf stood behind him, its bright blue eyes watching the sea of students. 

"Hello, students, " he began- his voice boomed around the dining room, amplified by the cavernous space's walls. "I am your headmaster. I am aware that you are in the midst of a Winter Games but, I am dearly troubled to inform you, the Games will cease until further notice." 

The room exploded into a cacophony of protests. Students lunged from their seats and screamed their disagreement. Dipper sat quietly with Bill, watching it all unfold. 

"Silence!" The headmaster shouted and Dipper could have sworn he saw a pulse of blue energy emanate from him and shove those standing back to their seat. The chaos immediately halted. 

"I will have silence." His voice lowered until he was at a normal speaking level for the last word. He straightened his lapel and glared down at the students. "Eat, " he commanded sharply before turning and moving towards the staff table.

Food filled the tables but the students didn't ravenously attack it like they normally did. Some barely even took a bite and the room was eerily quiet. Dipper stared at the pancakes in front of him, suddenly feeling a loss of appetite. 

"Seems like a prick, " Bill suddenly whispered into his ear, causing Dipper to flinch. "Almost makes me wish we hadn't killed the other one." 

"Don't say that." 

"Why? It's the truth. That's what you want isn't it?" 

Dipper stared down at his plate before getting up and heading towards the door. He heard Bill scramble after him. 

"Where are you going?" Bill called out before catching up with him and grabbing his elbow. Before Dipper could react, they were in their dormitory. Dipper jerked away and spun to face him, suddenly furious for some reason. 

"What's wrong?" Bill asked, tilting his head- trying to read his emotions. 

"What's wrong? " Dipper parroted, "what's wrong is that you're brushing off the fact that we killed our headmaster. Doesn't that mean anything to you? Plus we've been so up and down lately that you can't even try to pretend to be my friend. Not until I know I can trust you for sure." 

"But you can trust me, " Bill started, reaching out for Dipper. Dipper moved away quickly and Bill's hand dropped. "You know that wasn't me. I didn't mean to hurt you." 

"I know. I know but every time I look at you, I'm not sure if you're manipulating me or not." Bill stared at Dipper, stunned by his words. He hesitated for a moment before stepping back.

"Okay, " he held out a hand as if in greeting, "hello. My name is Bill Cipher. Care to be friends?" 

Dipper looked up at Bill, a serious expression plastered on his face, before bursting out laughing. 

"That's not how friends work, " Dipper complained but took his hand all the same.

"Well then teach me, Pinetree." Bill leaned down to eye level and grinned. Dipper smiled back and linked their fingers together. 

"We will learn the ways of friendship. What do you say, friend?" 

"I say let's do it, " Bill stood up, still grinning ear to ear, before snapping his free hand and teleporting them out of the room. 


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Said this was slow burn and yes I forgot that I even wrote this chapter based off of every cliche dream date (I do wanna go to a fair w someone tho)

They appeared in an unfamiliar environment to Dipper. It seemed to be a parking lot, filled with cars and people. There was the smell and sound of the sea nearby. He looked around and realized they were on a large pier. The sun was lowering into the ocean, an explosion of red and other colors. 

"Where are we?" Dipper asked, not understanding where they went. Bill looked at him with an incredulous expression. 

"You're from California! You of all people should know where and what this is, " he exclaimed. 

"Well, I don't. So tell me." 

Bill sighed before explaining, "Santa Monica Pier. Decided that we should come here for some fun." Dipper realized with a jolt that he was telling the truth and this was indeed the Pier. He could see lights beginning to shine past the cars and the top of the Ferris wheel stretched into the sky, peeking over the top of the cars. He wasn't sure how he missed it. 

"Oh."

"Damn right, 'oh'. Anyways let's go." Bill took Dipper's hand and tugged him through the parking lot, speeding towards the park like a little kid. Dipper felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth- they deserved a break after all the bullshit they had been through. Soon enough they were running side by side, racing to the entrance. 

Bill paid when they reached the ticket booth and Dipper didn't feel like arguing with him about where the money came from. They were here to enjoy themselves anyway. Once they were paid, Bill tugged Dipper into the crowd, keeping his hand tight on his wrist to prevent separation. 

Dipper allowed Bill to drag him to the nearest game set up. It was a ring toss. Dipper figured that the game was rigged based on how large each prize was. He allowed Bill to purchase a chance to play, assuring the manager that he only needed one ring. 

Dipper expected Bill to use magic and wasn't surprised when the ring slipped easily over one of the bottle's neck. Bill decided to land it on the bottle worth the most points, thereby winning a gigantic plush deer, much to the surprise of the game manager. 

"Congratulations, " he said, pulling down the animal, eyes still wide in shock. Bill took the animal with a smirk then instantly turned and pushed it into Dipper's arms. Dipper looked up and saw Bill giving him a grin. He smiled back, taken aback by Bill's actions. 

"Next!" Bill laughed and tugged him to the booth across from the one they were at. It was a shooting game. Bill invited Dipper to play with him, sitting down and paying for the game yet again. Dipper took the inaccurate toy gun in his hands, memories flooding over him of past hunts. 

Bill gave him a strange look and he flinched when a hand was placed on his shoulder. He realized he must have zoned out and it was just Bill. He willed his racing heart to slow and gave Bill a false smile. He could tell Bill didn't believe it for a second and his features seemed to become hardened with determination. 

They took their places as the game started up and Dipper was able to knock down all of the targets in a flurry of movement. Bill and the manager stared at him in astonishment. The girl had a huge grin on her face. Bill watched Dipper lower the gun slowly, looking scarily similar to his Grunkles after an adventure. He moved over to Dipper's side and wrapped an arm around him, snapping him out of the daze. 

"You okay?" Bill whispered into his ear, concerned for the well being of his friend. Dipper blinked a bit, nodding quickly. 

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Let's just go to the next one, " Dipper spoke as he turned and moved away from the booth, leaving Bill and the prize. 

"Do... you want the prize?" The manager asked uncertainly, holding out a rubber duck looking plushie. Bill took it quickly, thanking her, before running after Dipper. 

Thankfully he hadn't gone far and Bill found him leaning against the side of another booth, chewing on his lip and squeezing the large deer against his chest. Bill noticed that he was close to making his lip bleed. 

"Hey, you trying to kill that deer?" Dipper jumped, glancing around until his eyes landed on Bill and registered who he was. Bill moved towards him and held out the duck for him. "I brought you a friend." 

Dipper smiled softly and reached out to take it, murmuring his gratitude. Bill suddenly moved closer to Dipper and took his hand, wincing slightly when he saw Dipper flinch. 

"This light is getting boring, don't you think?" Before Dipper could answer, the surroundings began to blur, as if a recording had been sped up, until they slowed to normal time in darkness. A half-moon shone above them but its light was dim with the appearance of clouds and in comparison to the bright lights lining the pier and attractions. "That's better, " Bill purred before pulling Dipper into the stream of the crowd. 

They made their way to the West Coaster, cutting through the crowd as Bill tugged him along. Soon they were in line, slowly making their way to the ride itself. Bill held onto Dipper's hand the entire time and he could sense some kind of excitement welling up inside the demon. Eventually, they made their way onto the ride, taking their seats towards the back of the coaster. Bill offered to hold the plushies but Dipper stubbornly refused, securing them inside their car. 

The train began lurching forward out of the loading platform and slowly moved up the hill. Dipper noticed Bill closing his eyes as they climbed higher, he didn't think he would be one to scare from roller coasters but otherwise, he seemed relaxed. The reached the top of the hill and began to roll forward, suddenly diving down quickly. 

The surroundings shifted until they changed completely, becoming the top of clouds. Stars shone brightly above them, seemingly close enough to touch. Bill opened his eyes and gave Dipper a grin as the car hovered in the air. Before Dipper could do anything, the car shuddered and began to fall to the ground. They flipped as they fell, Dipper too stunned to scream. They broke through the clouds and saw the pier far below them, hurling closer by the second. 

Just as Dipper was finding his voice, the car straightened out and shot upwards a bit before dropping again. It repeated this, dropping lower and lower each time until they were just above the top of the dark water. Bill looked at Dipper, whose eyes widened in realization. Before he could protest, they dove below the surface of the water. 

Dipper opened his eyes slowly when he discovered he wasn't wet. He took in a breath of air when he saw that the water diverted around them. 

"Oh my God, Bill, " Dipper gasped, earning a small smile from the demon. He reached out and took Dipper's hand, squeezing it.

"Exciting, wasn't it?" 

"No, terrifying. This is terrifying, " Dipper made a vague gesture and Bill wasn't sure if it was to implicate the pitch-black waters around them or his feelings for the demon. No, there weren't any feelings there. 

"Okay, want to go back?" 

"Yes." Bill nodded at Dipper's answer and suddenly they were pulling into the loading station as if nothing had happened. 

They had moved to a dining pavilion and sat down at one of the tables. Dipper had ordered some fries and was eating them anxiously. 

"What's wrong?" Bill spoke up suddenly, startling Dipper.

"What do you mean?" 

Bill sighed, "you know what I mean." 

"Well, you dropped us from a thousand miles above the ground. So that's a little wrong." Dipper shoved another fry into his mouth. 

"That's not what I'm talking about. You've been jumpy this entire time. What's wrong?" Bill leaned across the table looking Dipper in the eyes. Dipper averted his gaze, fixing on the fries. 

"Nothing, " he muttered. Bill rubbed his eye, groaning in frustration. "Look, I'm sorry. Do you just want to go home?" 

"No. I don't. I want you to have a good time but nothing I'm doing is working, " he sighed before continuing, "if you want to go home that's fine." 

"I have an idea, actually." Bill looked up and saw Dipper staring at him with a devious grin. 

"Am I rubbing off on you?" 

"Probably, " Dipper shrugged, "anyways, can I take us somewhere?" 

"Why not?" Bill took Dipper's hand, expecting him to summon them someplace but he instead picked up the fries and plushies and lead them towards the entrance of the park. Bill followed him as they walked away from the park and headed down the long stretch of beach. 

They walked for what seemed like forever, the fries long gone- Dipper made Bill throw the trash away- and the lights of the pier far behind them. Dipper suddenly came to a stop and looked at Bill. 

"Here we are, " he stated matter of factly. Bill looked around, seeing nothing of interest. Even the city was far away. 

"What?" 

Dipper chuckled and took his shirt off, surprising Bill greatly. He placed his shirt on the ground then gently set the plushies down on top of it. He looked up at Bill, staring with wide eyes. 

"Sorry, I didn't feel like getting them sandy. It's horrible to clean off." Bill nodded and looked away from him. 

"So, um. What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Dipper asked him, saving him the pain of the response by replying to his own question, "we're swimming." Bill physically relaxed.

"Swimming, yes. That makes perfect sense." This time Dipper was the one staring.

"You did not." 

"Did not what?" 

"Did you think I was gonna fuck you on a public beach?" Dipper exclaimed. 

"I mean, when you put it like that it seems stupid. But you took us to a secluded location and took off your shirt. Plus you've been so unpredictable lately, what else was I supposed to think?" 

"Not like a pervert!" 

"I'm not a pervert!" Bill argued. 

"Whatever, " Dipper sighed, "let's go swim, pervert." Dipper turned and waded into the waves lapping at the shore. Bill thought he could see a smile on Dipper's face but he was distracted by the fact that Dipper was going into the ocean with jeans on. Skinny jeans nonetheless. 

"Why do you still have jeans on?" Bill called out. 

"Because I'm not gonna be half-naked with a pervert, " he called back, up to his hips in the water now. Bill groaned before snapping and replacing his own clothes with a pair of swim shorts. He chased after Dipper, who was swimming out into deeper water. 

They stopped when the water reached their necks. Bill could see that they were on the edge of a deep drop off. 

"I think it's here, " Dipper remarked before stepping off the edge of the drop and sinking down into the murky depths. Bill panicked before Dipper resurfaced next to him with a grin. 

"Yeah, follow me." Dipper dove down again and Bill had no choice but to do as he said.

They swam down a bit before a cave opened up in the side of the cliff and Dipper swam inside. Bill followed right behind him. They began to swim up once in the cave for a bit until they broke through the surface of the water in a large, dimly light cavernous space. 

Dipper took in huge gasping breaths once he surfaced before making his way towards the edge of the water. He pulled himself onto a rocky shore and lay on his back as Bill approached. He gave him a smile as Bill rose out of the water, sitting next to his head. 

"How'd you know this existed?" 

"A little inside information, " Dipper explained vaguely. 

"Oh, well that's ambiguous." Dipper laughed at Bill and rolled onto his side. 

"See? We had fun." 

"What?" Bill asked, unsure of what he was talking about. 

"This was fun, " Dipper sat up and watched Bill. 

"Oh, " Bill sighed. It hadn't seemed fun. They fought at the park, now all they did was walk and swim. Not really his idea of entertainment. 

"What's wrong?" 

"Nothing, " Bill grinned and stood up. "What else is in here?"

"Well... there have been reports of people disappearing in here. Maybe we could investigate?" Dipper stood up and motioned to a small tunnel in the shadows of the cavern. 

"Sure, " Bill summoned some fire, illuminating the passage. "After you, Detective Pinetree." Dipper laughed and went inside the opening. 

They walked for a while before coming into a cavern similar to the one they came from, but slightly smaller. A clattering sound surprised Dipper, which they realized was a bone. A human bone. 

Dipper paled, "I thought it was fake." 

"Oh, it is fake, dear, " a voice spoke up from behind them. They whirled around and were met with the sight of a beautiful woman. Her dark black hair seemed to float around her as if she was underwater. Her eyes were bright green. 

"Everything you think is wrong, " she continued, tattered green dress flowing around her dark skin as she approached, "I didn't kill them. They chose to stay here. I did nothing in the reason for their death. The cave only opens for the scorned, lovers and the like, I offer them sanctuary. They choose to stay here until death. I do not kill, that is not who I am." 

"We're not scorned, " Bill argued. 

"Yes, you are." She said it so firmly that they both knew there was no room for further argument. "So, would you like to stay? I can provide you with whatever you most desire." 

The plushies appeared next to Dipper and he scooped them up instantly, cradling them to his chest. The woman looked at Bill for a moment before smirking. 

"How sweet. What you desire cannot be summoned." Dipper looked up at her words.

"Bill, what does she mean?" When Bill did not reply, just glare at the woman, he grew more frantic. "Bill, what does she mean? What is she talking about? What can't be summoned?" 

The woman began to laugh. "Oh, this is unfortunate. Unfortunate indeed. Do you not know, dear, that the thing he desires most is- " Dipper was never able to hear the end of her sentence for Bill had lunged at Dipper and teleported them as the came crashing to the ground. 

They fell into Dipper's bed in the dorm room, Bill on top of Dipper. Bill was about to pull away when Dipper caught his wrist, stopping him. 

"What did she mean?" Dipper growled, demanding an answer. 

"Nothing, " Bill whispered.

"No, it's not nothing if you decided to tackle me so I wouldn't hear what it was." 

"No, that's what it was. It was nothing, " Bill looked into Dipper's wide, doe-like, brown eyes, "there is nothing I desire." 

Bill moved off of Dipper and he thought that his hand seemed to linger a little bit longer than necessary. Dipper sat up as Bill walked away, a coldness settling over him in the absence of his body heat.


	23. Chapter 23

Dipper sat with Bill on top of a log as they planned out their strategy. He wasn't sure why he didn't just summon a table, something about being tracked. 

"So how are we gonna kill our headmaster this time?" Bill drummed his fingers on the table, watching Dipper. 

"Do we have to kill him?" Dipper didn't want to go through with what they had done again. Nobody seemed to suspect them of the crime but he still felt anxiety every time somebody looked at him. 

"I mean, I- we could trap him?" Bill suggested. 

"I guess. I just don't want to hurt anyone anymore, " Dipper sighed and put his head in his hands. He looked up when he felt a hand lay softly on his shoulder. He saw Bill watch him sympathetically. 

"We won't kill unless it comes down to them or us, okay?"

Dipper groaned and put his head back down. He muttered about not wanting to hurt anyone ever. There was a pause before he murmured the absurdity of his previous statement. "Okay, " he nodded, exasperated. 

Bill nodded his agreement and removed his hand, placing it back upon the table. Dipper sat up, his chin on his knuckle, a tired look in his eyes that kept unfocusing and staring off into the distance. 

Bill gave him a strange look before beginning their planning, "I think we could try tapping him. We could put him a hole... six feet deep. And cover him with dirt. Then leave." 

"Yeah, sure whatever, " Dipper muttered and put his head back down. Bill gave him the strange look again. 

"Are you okay? You seem distant." 

"My head..." was all Dipper said, moving his hands over the back of his neck. Bill paused, hoping this was just a headache. 

"Let me check your eyes, " Bill spoke softly, bringing his hand to cup Dipper's cheek and lift his head. Dipper let him, staring into Bill's eye as he did so. 

Bill examined Dipper's eyes and his own flashed red in anger. Some other demon was trying to go through Dipper's mind. Dipper must have up such strong defences that when a demon tries to tear them down without his consent, it causes him physical pain.

"What is it?" Dipper asked, his voice soft as if afraid to know the answer. 

"Nothing, " Bill smiled gently, his eye glowing blue before turning back gold. "You should go. Check the perimeters, make sure the horse is okay." 

Dipper felt himself deflate at Bill's words. He was being lied to and sent away like an annoying child. He nodded anyway and got up to leave. He felt Bill's eye on him as he moved in between the trees, searching for the horse. 

He found her only a little ways away. He couldn't see Bill anymore so he focused on the horse who was grazing, ignorant to his presence. 

"Are you hungry?" He asked her, before mentally slapping himself. She had food right in front of her. "I mean thirsty. Are you thirsty?" 

As expected, she didn't respond. He sighed and moved past her, patting her flank in passing. She just swished her tail as if he were an irritating fly. 

He moved around the camp, staying at a distance of about thirty feet away. He didn't see anything or anyone except for a few normal creatures. Squirrels, birds, centaurs, even a deer. He heard dangerous noises in the distance but they never came any closer so he just remained weary. After circling around the camp a few times, he decided he should head back. 

He came back to an empty area. Dipper panicked for a second, thinking he had lost himself when he recognised the log they had sat upon. He relaxed a bit, making his brain believe Bill had only left for a second, possibly looking for him. He should just stay and wait for him to come back. Or he could fuck that idea to hell. 

Dipper ran to the log, searching for any sign of Bill's possible situation. Coming up empty, Dipper scanned the nearby ground for his footprints. He noticed a set moving out into the forest. They were fresh, only a few minutes old, so Dipper set off after them. 

Dipper followed the footprints to a small stream. That was where the trail ended. He heard something approach from behind him and spun around to confront it. When he saw what it was, he stumbled back, his foot slipping in the shallow water. He was about to move further away when he felt the mud grab his foot and hold him in place like an unyielding hand. 

The creature continued towards him. It had a humanoid shape and seemed to tower above him, standing almost nine feet tall. It seemed to have a hundred mouths shoved inside one big, gaping hole. Its tongue darted out, thick and red, wetting its - what Dipper supposed - lips. It had the iris and pupil of its two eyes, in a relatively normal location, pitch black with the rest of the eye coloured a sickly yellow. The left side of its face was covered with an array of bulbous, fleshy material, more humanoid eyes, tentacles, and patches of fur. The rest of its skin was a slimy pink and green colour. 

It growled, a bubbling noise that reminded Dipper of when his grandfather had gotten pneumonia. Dipper felt his heart racing faster than when he had first seen a monster. At least then he had been armed, now he was trapped and defenceless.

The monster was almost upon him, so close that he could smell the scent of death wafting from its mouth and see salvia trail down the bottom of its face. Suddenly it stopped, its eyes moving to look just behind him. Dipper slowly turned to follow its gaze, his body quaking in fear. He saw nothing and somehow he was able to grow even more terrified. He was about to turn back around and face his death when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Gringrore! I haven't seen you in forever, " Bill called out from behind Dipper. Dipper froze and felt tears slip down his cheeks, unsure if it was from relief or terror. "I'd prefer it if you didn't eat my friend there." 

The monster made an incoherent grunt before turning towards Bill. Dipper felt the mud release him and stumbled back out of the stream. His foot caught on the ground and he felt himself collapsing when the monster reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt, arresting his fall. Dipper noticed wickedly long and sharp claws on the end of the creatures digits. He swallowed and got his feet under himself, standing up straight. The monster released him and gave a small gurgle. 

Bill approached from Dipper's left, coming up from behind him with a smile. He placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him close to his body. Dipper allowed himself to sink into Bill's side as he eyed the beast. 

"It's okay, he's not going to hurt you, " Bill comforted him but Dipper was still unsure who it was actually meant for. Dipper let out a shaky breath, noticing his body was still trembling and hating himself for it. "It's a good thing Gringore came by when he did. He'll be perfect for our plan." 

Gringrore let out a strange rumbling noise that Dipper took as agreement. 


	24. Chapter 24

Dipper was beginning to warm up to Gringrore after they had spent a few hours planning but still stuck close to Bill, unsure if the monster actually killed people or just appeared terrifying. He didn't do much, just grunt and groan sometimes and watch them work. Bill still let Dipper stay by his side, their arms and shoulders almost touching from their proximity, as he drew up maps and plans.

They had finalized their plans a few hours later. The sun drawing nearer to the horizon as they began to clear the area of any sign of their presence. They went around, hiding their footsteps and picking up anything that could be used to track them. 

Twenty minutes later, they gathered by the horse at the edge of the clearing. Bill smiled at Dipper who hesitated before lunging at him and wrapping his arms around his body. Bill stumbled back a few steps before returning the embrace. 

"This better work, " Dipper muttered into Bill's chest. 

"It will. Don't worry, Pinetree, " Bill tightened his grip before releasing him and giving him a gentle push towards the horse. Dipper slowly pulled himself up, turning to watch Bill as the horse began to move with him on her back. The plan was in effect.

They flew quickly, disregarding all sense of concealment as they raced towards the school. The setting sun turned the sky into fire. All reds and oranges. It shone into his eyes, irritating him until they finally dove into the shadow of the school. The horse reached the ground and galloped towards the large doors of the front entrance to the school. Dipper jumped off before she even slowed to a halt. 

The doors flew open and the headmaster stormed out, his wolf close behind. Dipper ran up to him, panting. 

"Headmaster, you have to come with me. I met Bill. He is planning to kill you. We can't let that happen, " the words tumbled out of Dipper in one long breath, leaving him gasping for air. 

"Where is he?" The headmaster spoke, his voice sounding almost like he was speaking into a megaphone in an amphitheatre. 

"In the woods, I'll show you." Dipper ran back towards the horse and climbed onto her back. "Get a horse. And hurry." 

The headmaster was about to speak when another person exited out the doors. They were tall with long black hair dyed red. Dipper noticed long, pointed ears peeking out through the long locks of hair and black eyes above a smile, was that even a smile? 

He ran towards them, grinning and grinning. Sharp terrible, teeth shining in between thin, pale lips. He wore a red cape that billowed out behind him as he ran, revealing a neat black suit. He reached them and looked around curiously. 

"What's going on?" he asked, his voice light and cheery. The headmaster examined him for a moment before smiling. 

"Fetch and tack us a horse and you can come with us. Take no more than five minutes or we will abandon you to be eaten by your inquisitiveness." 

He looked at both of them before bolting towards the stables. Dipper could swear he saw strange, arachnid-like legs sprouting from the body of the boy as he fled. 

Five minutes later, to the second, he appeared, two horses trailing behind him. Dipper recognised one of them as the mare who had been with foal when they chose their horses for the races. She was tall and brown with a white backside. The other was a dappled grey gelding. They both were cleaned and tacked as the Headmaster had ordered.

The boy handed the grey horse to the headmaster before mounting his own horse. The headmaster swung up quickly before telling Dipper to lead them to Bill. This wasn't part of the plan. Dipper took off in a gallop nevertheless to avoid suspicion. 

"So what's going on?" The boy had steered his horse to run next to Dipper so they could talk. They had introduced themself as Yasha. Dipper was still too perturbed by the boy's mouth to enjoy engaging in any conversation and had attempted multiple times to end it only for it to be restarted by the boy. He almost felt bad for him. He must be lonely. 

"We are stopping the potential assassination of the headmaster, " Dipper spoke shortly. 

"Really?" They lit up in excitement, "how did you know there was gonna be an assassination?" 

"My, " Dipper hesitated not sure what to call Bill. They had agreed to be friends but Dipper was desperate to call Bill anything if it would get this kid off his back, "boyfriend told me." His eyes widened in surprise. Dipper was surprised by himself as well. 

"You have a boyfriend?" Yasha exclaimed in a whispering shout. 

"Um, I- " the kid continued before Dipper could say more.

"That's so cool! I want one too but nobody really wants someone with scars like this." Dipper froze at his words. He felt a sudden wave a guilt slam into him. 

"I'm sure you'll find somebody, " Dipper smiled lightly, awkwardly. Yasha just nodded and laughed sadly. 

"I'm sorry," he spoke suddenly, surprising Dipper.

"What do you mean? What for?" 

"For coming. I should have just stayed inside," he dropped his head and Dipper felt daggers twisting inside of him. He reached out hesitantly and patted them on their shoulder. He looked up at him, their permanent smile stretched out to make it almost look normal. 

"Mason, " the headmaster startled Dipper with his sudden words, "are we almost there?" 

"Yes, sir. They're right around here I think." Dipper slowed down, scanning the trees for Bill or Gringore. He came to a stop, recognising where they had planned to ambush him. Where were they? 

Dipper's head snapped around when he heard a roaring that shook the trees. A noise like a jet engine taking off moments before bursting into flames and plummeting back to the ground. Gringore exploded from the trees, sending hundreds of screeching birds into flight, as he hurled himself at the headmaster. The headmaster's horse screamed and shot out from under him, fleeing and leaving him. Yasha's horse abandoned him similarly, sending him crashing to the ground.

Gringrore grabbed at the headmaster and, like expected, as he began to crawl away from him, he moved closer to the pit they planned to trap him in. The plan was being executed brilliantly when a shadowy black form crashed into Gringore. They fell to the ground, trying to fight off the creature. 

Gringore ripped it off of himself and Dipper was able to see it. It had the face of a seal with the body of a spider and tail of a scorpion curled high over its back, ready to strike. Dipper looked for Yasha but didn't see him anywhere. Dipper saw the headmaster rise to his feet, seemingly readying himself for a spell. Where was Bill?

Dipper was preparing to launch himself at the headmaster when a bolt of energy shot out from behind the trees and slammed into the headmaster's side. He collapsed to the ground as Bill walked towards them. 

The headmaster slowly crawled away from Bill, moving once again closer to the pit. Bill pushed him back, approaching like a lion through the grass, confident in his strides. The headmaster moved his hand back and suddenly it collapsed from under him. He recoiled in surprise and examined the new hole in the ground. His eyes narrowed and he looked back at Bill.

"You really think you can just throw me into a pit?" He growled, rising to his feet. Bill continued to glare but he came to a stop. Dipper stared from atop his horse, unsure of what to do. Gringore and the monster continued to fight, emitting nightmarish noises. 

"Worth a shot, " Bill shrugged and the headmaster scoffed. Dipper froze, what happened to the wolf? As if answering his question, a growl rose from the forest. The headmaster turned towards it with a hubristic smirk. 

"It seems your plan has failed. Miserably, " the headmaster held his arms out in a flamboyant gesture of his success as the wolf stalked out from the cover of the trees. The wolf spotted him and picked up its pace until it was sprinting towards him. It did not slow as it drew closer and horror washed over Dawntra's face as he realized what was happening but it was too late. The wolf launched itself upon him, taking them both to the false ground and into the hole. 

Bill and Dipper both froze in common shock as growling and screaming echoed from the depths. Even the two wrestling monsters froze. The screams cut off abruptly and Bill cautiously moved toward the edge of the pit. He glanced over quickly and cringed. Dipper began to ride over to look as well but Bill held out his hand to warn him off. 

"Why did you kill him?" The shadowy beast spoke up, its voice like a multi-legged beetle crawling over dead sticks and leaves in the undergrowth, scratchy and unsettling. Bill looked over and jumped back in surprise as if only just now realizing that was there. 

"Yasha? What are you doing here?" Bill asked. Dipper looked curiously between the two. That was Yasha?

"I saw the headmaster go running outside. I wanted to know what was happening. I didn't realize you guys were going to kill him. He hadn't even done anything!" Yasha's voice began to return back to normal but still sounded odd mixing with the other one.

"We didn't want to kill him, " Bill explained calmly, "we were just going to trap him and try to figure out what's going on here. I just want to leave." 

"But- you can leave. At any time. Nothing is stopping you." Yasha's form was beginning to shrink, the tail and legs pulling back into their body. 

"I can leave but not forever. Every time I try I always end up back here with no recollection of ever doing so." 

"Oh, " Yasha was back into his normal form, his head lowered in understanding. "How do you leave then?"

"We need to 'graduate'. The headmaster has to release us from the bond of the school so we can finally leave. Once we do, we're wiped from the memories of everyone else still at the school except for the headmaster and lead professor. It was him who told me what I needed to do to get out of here." 

"So what happened with the last professor?" 

"She tried to kill us. We were going to try to get this one to release us." 

Gringore grunted suddenly and they saw him pointing at the pit. They followed his gaze to see a body climbing out. It wasn't the headmaster. 


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter! I actually like the book the closer it gets to the ending bc it has a better aesthetic. The next chapter would be a scene that I wanted to add in but haven't finished yet. I'll probably put it in anyway bc I liked the idea of it.

The person that emerged from the pit was a woman, dark-skinned and tall with white striped black hair. Dipper noticed Bill looked to the ground as she watched them with a careful expression, her icy blue eyes bright with emotion far beyond anything they could even try understanding. She spoke, a silvery, smokey sound that would be expected of only a goddess. 

"It's strange how a place I once called home now feels like a foreign land." 

"What?" Dipper questioned, unsure of what she was talking about. Or even who she was or came from. 

"This place, I used to go here many years ago. Feels like a millennium. Then, it was bright and a haven for its students. Now, it is corrupt and dying. If you leave, it will perish." 

"What are you talking about? Who even are you?" Dipper blurted, too confused to process anything. Bill finally looked up at him, his eye watery and shaking as it flitted over his face. 

"This is Asena, mother of wolves." Dipper looked back over at the woman who watched with a pleased smile on her face. 

"Bill is correct, " she nodded, enjoying Dipper's confusion. Yasha's eyes widened in surprise and he gasped. 

"She's Asena? I thought she was dead or gone, " he stared at her in amazement. 

"Yes, I was. Now I have returned as the headmaster of this school." Bill's eye lit up in excitement at her words and he spun towards Dipper.

"Pinetree, do you hear that? She can graduate us. We can leave." 

"Yeah, but she also said that if we do leave then the school will perish. What does that mean?" He had turned towards her to ask the question.

"When you leave, I will destroy the school, " she explained simply.

"What about the students?"

"They will die as well."

"What? No! You can't do that. You can't just kill hundreds of kids." 

"Pinetree, " Bill objected but Dipper cut him off.

"Can't you save all of them?"

"No, I do not have the power. I can only save the three of you, " she countered. Yasha glanced at Dipper and moved closer.

"We can't save everyone. If there's somebody you want to come with you then I can stay." 

"There is no time, " Asena told them, making their situation bleaker.

"I can't leave Mabel. I won't leave her, " Dipper huffed, his mind made up. Bill looked between him and Asena, indecisive. 

"I-, Pinetree. Please, " he begged him. He had never begged in his life. Dipper shook his head and dropped to the ground to sit. Bill sighed and shook his head.

"If you two aren't going then I'm staying too, " Yasha swore. The headmaster looked at all of them, even Gringore who had sat down as well and the horse who watched curiously, and nodded.

"Very well then, so be it. All of you will die along with the school. You may watch its death if you wish. What will happen is I will burn the school and all of its occupants, neither of which will feel a thing, " she explained to them carefully and gently. 

With a wave of her hand, she had transported all of them in front of the school. It stood empty and silent. A silence that falls when death arrives. She brought up her arms and flames followed, growing and devouring the school. Soon it was completely enveloped. 

The sky had been coloured red already from the setting sun but the strange smokeless flames had darkened it to blood. They roared up, seemingly trying to eat even the bloodstained sky before disappearing and bringing everything it had touched with it.

There they stood, in an empty field, staring at the bloody sky and blank hills for miles. They stood and stared, in shock and awe. An awful silence clinging to them like damp clothes in hellish humidity. 

The newest and last headmaster turned towards them and brought the flames around their bodies. She gave them a nod before they, too, were consumed by the fire. 

It ran across their skin, an unfeeling feeling. Sensations similar to shivers from coldness or fevers, nobody knew which. Yet, at the same time, it seemed that they felt nothing, not the slightest bit of wind through their hair or sun on their bodies. 

It lasted only moments, or perhaps it was eons, nobody knew which. But eventually it, like all things, had come to an end. It had come to an end as this book will. It had come to an end as all books have and ever will. 

They opened their eyes to a brilliant darkness. They had not closed their eyes, or at least they can not ever remember doing so. They opened their eyes to this brilliant darkness, brighter than a thousand suns yet darker than the most powerful black hole. It pulled and burned at their eyes, devouring and yet emitting all. 

It was cold, or perhaps it was hot, nobody knew which. Temperature, and light as well, is only measured in the absence of comfort. The absence of light, a comfort to many, is the darkness they stood in. The absence of heat, a comfort to most, is the chill that they floated in. They believed they were standing right side up, perhaps they could have been floating upside down, nobody knew which. 

They realized, as one, that they heard nothing. They had said nothing. Normally, in a living human being, there were many sounds being heard at once. So many, in fact, that the brain tends to tune most of them out. They did not hear their breaths, they did not know if they were breathing. They did not hear their heart, they did not know if it was beating. They did not hear the blood rushing through their veins, nor did they hear their body moving. They did not know if they moved. They did not know if they possessed a body of which to move. 

They woke, as one, to different scenes. Some awoke in a bed, some awoke in a stall, some awoke in a forest, and some awoke on a couch. If these things that they awoke in or on belong to them is unknown to all but them. Some do not even know for themselves. They are not themselves. 

Dipper woke up in his bed. He knew it was his bed. It was his bed in Gravity Falls, Oregon. He must have fallen asleep. This was not his bed.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boom extra scene that was meant to be smut but I hate writing that

"What's happening?" Dipper asked, watching the students dance. They seemed to move in reverse, starting close to their partner but becoming more distant as the song progressed. 

"Energy is being recycled back to the students. Gotta keep kids from passing out somehow." Now that Bill mentioned it Dipper could feel it. Imperceptible at first but then a tingling along his skin as if there was an electric current in the air like a thunderstorm was brewing. 

"At the end they replay the song in reverse and all the energy that was given to the kids is taken back by the school. You'll see why soon." 

Bill lead him to the center of the room, his fingers trailing up and down his arm as they moved. Dipper could see Mabel swaying with Pacifica, her normally erratic moves calmed down to match the rest of the students.

Dipper looked back at Bill and they paused in the center of the room, examining each other before Bill began to move. The song had a slow drumming beat and Bill circled around Dipper as it began to build.

His fingers trailed against his shoulders, his back, his chest. Bill dipped and weaved, his movements fluid and graceful as if he had danced to this song for a hundred years. Perhaps he had. Dipper felt the music flow through him, his veins filled with notes and sound rather than blood and he began to move as well. 

They danced with each other, Dipper not nearly as graceful, as they turned what would normally be considered fighting motions into ones of a story. They continued like that, dodging, weaving, lunging around each other. 

The song ended entirely too soon and they stopped to catch their breath before the next began. Dipper caught Bill watching him with his mouth quirked up into a smirk, seeming to know something he didn't. Which he probably did. They finally began to come down from their high when the next song began.

The song was a writhing beat that reminded Dipper of cobra trainers. It snaked and flowed around the dancing bodies as they moved to the melody. Energy began to tingle along Dipper's skin, mingling with the sweat already forming from the heat. 

They circled each other, eyeing what the other would do next. The song began slowly, faster than the previous but building to a tempo that Dipper could already sense he would barely be able to keep up with. Their bodies seemed to move on their own, repelling and attracting each other as they spun around. His feet moved of their own accord, making simple motions complex. 

Dipper watched Bill lunge at him, stopping until there was barely any space between their faces. Bill's eye seemed to glow with power, a golden ring around his dilated pupil. He barely gave Dipper time to react before he tugged his arm and was dragging him around with him. They kept their hands joined as Bill pushed and pulled Dipper, seemingly not sure if he wanted him to leave or stay.

Energy felt like a physical thing, pushing against bodies pushing against each other. Their hands trailed up the other's body, spread heat and warmth. They pushed away again, spinning, dancing, the music picking up in fervour. 

Their bodies clashed together again and Dipper's mind went blank, seeing nothing but Bill, Bill, Bill. His lips were red and wet, his tongue darting out to dampen them further. His skin flushed with beads of sweat forming and rolling down. His eye glowing with some indescribable emotion as he stared back at Dipper. He was vaguely aware of the music dipping down from the crescendo before building up again as it had done in the beginning but lasting what felt like much longer.

Before Dipper could move, their lips slammed together in a furious kiss, each fighting for dominance. Bill bit Dipper's lip with his too sharp teeth and when Dipper opened his mouth to gasp, his tongue darted inside, moving like the music that pulsed around them. 

Bill pulled away and Dipper followed, they began to dance like that, darting in and away from each other, quick kisses and touches leaving trails of heat everywhere they went. 

The energy pulsing from everyone seemed so thick that Dipper was surprised they couldn't see it. Bill pushed Dipper back and he felt himself collide with something solid, a wall. Bill was upon him in an instant, kissing with an intensity that rivaled that of the music when, just as it began, it suddenly ended. 

Dipper was flooded with sudden self awareness. Seeing Bill so close, his lips swollen and red, his face flushed and his blond hair sticking to it with sweat. The glow in his eye dimmed slightly. Dipper glanced around Bill's figure and saw other people reacting similarly but with a modicum of less shock than him. 


End file.
